Very little is known of the hero of the following memoir previous to his leaving his native country. He was educated as an engineer, and brought with him to this country testimonials of the highest order. His family were of the French noblesse; his ancestor, Hercule AndrÉ de Fleury, was canon of Montpelier, and appointed by Louis XIV. preceptor to his grandson. At the age of seventy years he was made cardinal and prime minister, and by his active and sagacious measures the kingdom of France prospered greatly under his administration. De Fleury, the subject of this brief sketch, was pursuing his profession when the news of the American revolution reached the shores of France. Endowed by nature with a spirit of independence, vigorous intellect, undaunted courage, and a spirit of enterprise, he seemed peculiarly fitted to encounter perils and hardships, which his daring, prompt and skillful maneuvers, in some of the sharpest battles of the revolution, proved most true. He read with excited anxiety, again and again, of the oppression and tyranny exercised by the mother country against the colonies. Next came the news that at once decided our young hero For six days previous to the evacuation of Fort Mifflin, the fire from the enemy’s batteries and shipping had been incessant. Major Fleury kept a journal of events, which were daily forwarded to General Washington, from which the following are extracts. “November 10th, at noon.—I am interrupted by the bombs “11th. The enemy keep up a heavy fire; they have changed the direction of their embrasures, and instead of battering our palisades in front, they take them obliquely and do great injury to our north side. At night:—the enemy fire and interrupt our works. Three vessels have passed up between us and Province Island, without any molestation from the galleys. Colonel Smith, Captain George, and myself wounded. These two gentlemen passed immediately to Red Bank. “12th. Heavy firing; our two eighteen pounders at the northern battery dismounted. At night:—the enemy throw shells, and we are alarmed by thirty boats. “13th. The enemy have opened a battery on the old Ferry Wharf; the walk of our rounds is destroyed, the block-houses ruined. Our garrison is exhausted with fatigue and ill-health. “14th. The enemy have kept up a firing upon us part of the night. Day-light discovers to us a floating battery, placed a little above their grand battery and near the shore. Seven o’clock:—the enemy keep up a great fire from their floating battery and the shore; our block-houses are in a pitiful condition. At noon:—we have silenced the floating battery. A boat, which this day deserted from the fleet, will have given the enemy sufficient intimation of our weakness; they will probably attempt a lodgment on the Island, which we cannot prevent with our whole strength. “15th—at six in the afternoon.—The fire is universal from “16th. We were obliged to evacuate the fort last evening. Major Thayer returned from thence a little after two this morning. Everything was got off that possibly could be. The cannon could not be removed without making too great a sacrifice of men, as the Vigilant lay within one hundred yards of the southern part of the works, and with her incessant fire, hand grenades and musketry, from the round-top, killed every man that appeared upon the platforms.” After this devastating conflict, Fleury was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the army. He had already received from Congress the gift of a horse, as a testimonial of their sense of his merit at the battle of Brandywine, where a horse was shot under him. “To the President of Congress— “Head Quarters, West Point, 25th July, 1779. “Sir:—Lieutenant-Colonel Fleury having communicated to me his intention to return to France at the present juncture, I have thought proper to give him this letter to testify to Congress the favorable opinion I entertain of his conduct. The marks of their approbation, which he received on a former occasion, have been amply justified by all his subsequent behavior. He has signalized himself in more than one instance since; and in the late assault of Stony Point, he commanded one of the attacks, was the first that entered the enemy’s works, and struck the British flag with his own hands, as reported by General Wayne. It is but justice to him to declare, that, in the different services he has been G. Washington. CERTIFICATE.West Point, 28th July, 1779. I certify that Lieutenant-Colonel Fleury has served in the army of the United States since the beginning of the campaign in 1777, to the present period, and has uniformly acquitted himself as an officer of distinguished merit for talents, zeal, activity, prudence, and bravery; that he first obtained a captain’s commission from Congress, and entered as a volunteer in a corps of riflemen, in which, by his activity and bravery, he soon recommended himself to notice; that he next served as brigade major, with the rank of major, first in the infantry and afterwards in the cavalry, in which stations he acquired reputation in the army, and the approbation of his commanding officers, of which he has the most ample testimonies; that towards the conclusion of the campaign of 1777, he was sent to the important post of Fort Mifflin, in quality of engineer, in which he rendered essential services, and equally signalized his intelligence and his valor. That in consequence of his good conduct on this and on former occasions, he was promoted by Congress to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and has been since employed in the following stations, namely, as a sub-inspector, as second in command in a corps of light infantry, in an expedition against Rhode Island, and lastly as commandant of a battalion of light infantry, in the army under my immediate command; that in G. Washington. In July, 1779, Congress passed a vote of thanks to Colonel De Fleury, with a gold medal (see Plate II.) for his bravery and courage at Stony Point. During the two years De Fleury was attached to the American army, he took a conspicuous post in all the battles fought within that period; and such was his bravery, that every commander under whom he had the honor to serve, recommended him to the especial notice of Congress. MEDAL.Occasion.—Taking the fort of Stony Point. Device.—A soldier helmeted and standing against the ruins of a fort: his right hand extended, holding a sword upright: the staff of a stand of colors reversed in his left: the colors under his feet: his right knee drawn up, as if in the act of stamping on them. Legend.—Virtutis et audiciÆ monum, et prÆmium D. De Fleury equiti gallo primo muros resp. Americ. d. d. Reverse.—Two water batteries, three guns each: one battery firing at a vessel: a fort on a hill: flag flying: river in front: six vessels before the fort. Legend.—Aggeres paludes hostes victi. Exergue.—Stony Pt. expugn. 15th July, 1779. |