Philip De Coudray
Philippe Charles Jean Baptiste Tronson du Coudray was a French army officer who volunteered for service in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. By 1775, du Coudray had risen to the rank of chef de brigade, with a posting as an adjutant general. He was a leading figure in the French artillery and had written treatises on subjects such as gunpowder and metallurgy as it applied to the artillery. In 1776, the American diplomat Silas Deane came to France to recruit skilled military talent, particularly engineers, for the colonial cause. Impressed by du Coudray, whom he described as the "first engineer" of the French military establishment, Deane agreed to hire du Coudray into the Continental Army with the rank of major general and command of the Continental Army's artillery and engineering corps. Du Coudray was to recruit engineers in France, and deliver 200 French cannons to the American forces. The methods by which du Coudray went about recruiting alarmed the French court, which wanted to maintain secrecy in its dealings with the Americans, and du Coudray was ordered to stay in France.
He ignored the order, slipped out of France, and arrived in North America in May 1777. Deane in fact exceeded his authority in extending the offer to du Coudray, but the Continental Congress felt obliged to honor it, and he was commissioned with the offered rank. A number of American generals were outraged that high ranks were awarded to foreigners, and the Continental Army's artillery chief, Henry Knox, was particularly incensed that du Coudray would outrank him. Du Coudray was somewhat unpopular because of the circumstances surrounding his commissioning, although they were not directly of his making. His superior attitude and aristocratic demeanor did nothing to improve relations with others. On September 11, 1777, as Du Coudray rode onto a ferry to cross the Schuylkill River, his horse became alarmed and leapt into the river. Du Coudray was entangled in his stirrups and drowned with the horse. His body was pulled from the river later that day.a
He ignored the order, slipped out of France, and arrived in North America in May 1777. Deane in fact exceeded his authority in extending the offer to du Coudray, but the Continental Congress felt obliged to honor it, and he was commissioned with the offered rank. A number of American generals were outraged that high ranks were awarded to foreigners, and the Continental Army's artillery chief, Henry Knox, was particularly incensed that du Coudray would outrank him. Du Coudray was somewhat unpopular because of the circumstances surrounding his commissioning, although they were not directly of his making. His superior attitude and aristocratic demeanor did nothing to improve relations with others. On September 11, 1777, as Du Coudray rode onto a ferry to cross the Schuylkill River, his horse became alarmed and leapt into the river. Du Coudray was entangled in his stirrups and drowned with the horse. His body was pulled from the river later that day.a
