Since in this issue we are heavily involved with the American War of Independence it may be of interest to speak very briefly about the Lauzun's Legion. That units fits the above article very well and shows the use of the combination cavalry-infantry in the light troops capabilities. The Lauzun's Legion was formed in 1780 by a royal decree for the service in America under the command of the Duke of Lauzun and recruited, like most Legions, from foreigners such as Irish, Poles, Germans etc. only about half the strength of the orignal Legion was sent in America. The Legion arrived in Newport (R.I) with Rochambeau's army in July 1780. The Legion included about 400 infantry and 300 cavalry organized in one company of chasseurs, one of grenadiers, two of fusiliers plus a company of regimental artillery including sappers etc. and four companies of cavalry, two of hussars and two of lancers each company consisting of about 70 men. The infantry companies were about 80 strong. The Lauzun's Legion was involved at Kingsbridge (NY) on July 22-23, 1781 with the help of the Sheldon's Dragoons against the DeLancey's Refugees which were routed in this action. The Legion was then to the south with the rest of the French Army and soon arrived around Yorktown. During the march of the French Army south the Lauzun's Legion was fulfilling the duty of a light unit as described in our article on Light troops -- that is protecting the flanks of the army. The Legion was on the forward left flank. Latter on, during the siege of Yorktown, the Legion was involved in'a brief battle with Tarleton's British Legion at Gloucester Point on October 3, 1781. The Lauzun's Legion was disbanded after the War of the American Independence. The above is a good example of Light troops involvement and proves that the French Army was aware of the necessity of Light Troops to fight any war successfully. In facts, it was nothing more than the concept developed during the previous wars as seen in the article on Light troops. Then, in the light of the above, one may wonder if a statement such as; "...It now (about 1792) the invariable practice to send the most reliable men forward in a cloud of skirmishers (whose nuisance value had been learned by General Lafayette and his French volunteers during the War of American Independence) etc." The above statement from Chandler THE CAMPAIGNS OF NAPOLEON, page 67, suggests that the French learned the nuisance of skirmishers during the War of American Independence. I think that is i currect since the French had learned that inconvenience much earlier than that in the Wars-against the Austrian. However, I would agre'e that during the War of American Independence the French reenforced their knowledge on the use of skirmishers already know to them. A point that should be easy to prove in our next article on Light Troops. Back to Empire, Eagles, & Lions Table of Contents Vol. 1 No. 23 Back to EEL List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1978 by Jean Lochet This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com