Lewis, James A. Neptune's Militia: The Frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution, (The Kent State University Press, 1999.)
Revill, Janie. Copy of the Original Index Book: Showing the Revolutionary Claims Filed in South Carolina Between August 20, 1783 and August 31, 1786, (Genealogical Publishing Company, 1969.)
Letter - "To Thomas Jefferson from Jacques Nicolas Mayeux, 9 April 1787", (Founders Online, National Archives, last modified October 5, 2016.)
Letter - "From Thomas Jefferson to Charles Pinckney, 12 January 1792", (Founders Online, National Archives, last modified October 5, 2016.)
Letter "From Thomas Jefferson to John Jay, 21 June 1787", (Founders Online, National Archives, last modified October 5, 2016.)
In the course of this overall blog, many individual themes have been addressed. Several of these themes have been of a more historical nature, addressing some facet of the life of the frigate South Carolina. Many others have been on separate groups of officers, crew men, and marines who served on board the frigate in one capacity or other. Not a few of these specific posts have addressed individual men and have traced their personal histories as these are related to the frigate South Carolina. The vast majority of these more personal histories have examined officers, both naval and marine, who served on board the frigate on one of the two voyages that were accomplished during the life of the frigate while under patriot control. A few of these same posts have even addressed the lives of enlisted men as fully as the information concerning their lives will allow. Even the Hessian, British and Loyalist soldiers who defected to the patriot cause, for whatever reason or reasons, and served on board the frigate South Carolina have had information recorded on them, even though much of this information has been conjectural in nature. But, there has always been a group of men who the writer of this blog had thought would forever remain mute and silent concerning their lives and services on board the frigate South Carolina during their time on board that ship-of-war. These officers, NCOs, and enlisted men are the members of the French Army unit known as the "Volontaires du Luxembourg". Until just recently, this silence has proven to be true... until now. A single voice, possibly two, have emerged from history to argue their requests. These men and their voices from across the centuries are the objects of this post.
(Note: Numerous posts of this overall blog have addressed the French presence on board the frigate South Carolina. More specifically, these posts have revolved around the French Army unit designated as the "Volontaires du Luxembourg". These posts can be grouped into certain categories.
The posts addressing the history of the French Army unit designated as the "Volontaires du Luxembourg" during the 18th century are as follows:
"The Legion (or Volunteers) of Luxembourg - Gillon's Marines - their Service on board the Frigate South Carolina and 'The Luxembourg Claims'". This post is dated: "11/26/2014".
"'Volontaires du Luxembourg': the 'Volontaires du Luxembourg' - Gillon's Marines on board the Frigate South Carolina, Additional Information, Pt. II". This post is dated: "02/02/2015"
The posts specifically addressing the personnel of each of the three companies of the "Volontaires du Luxembourg" that served as marines on board the frigate South Carolina are as follows:
"1st Company of the 'Volontaires du Luxembourg' - Roster of Known Personnel". This post is dated: "02/10/2015".
"2nd Company of the 'Volontaires du Luxembourg' - Roster of Known Personnel". This post is dated: "02/10/2016".
"3rd Company of the 'Volontaires du Luxembourg' - Roster of Known Personnel". This post is dated: "02/11/2016".
There are also several posts addressing the other personnel of the "Volontaires du Luxembourg". Each individual post addresses different aspects of the unit itself and are here cited in chronological order. These posts are as follows:
"Other French Soldiers on board the Frigate South Carolina - Miscellaneous Listings". This post is dated: "02/12/2015".
"The Leadership of the 'Volontaires du Luxembourg' - French Officers on board the Frigate South Carolina". This post is dated: "02/18/2015".
"'That They Might Have Music' - French Musicians of the 'Volontaires du Luxembourg' on board the Frigate South Carolina". This post is dated: "02/19/2015".
"'That They Might Also Have Food' - The Solitary French Cook on board the Frigate South Carolina". This post is dated: "02/19/2015".
'The French 'Matelots Volontaires du Luxembourg' and Sailors on board the Frigate South Carolina". This post is dated: "02/20/2015".
The writer of this blog has realized that quite a bit of information has been recorded on this blog site regarding the French presence on board the frigate South Carolina first its first, maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Their presence was crucial in the proper functioning of the frigate as it encountered and captured her first prize vessels as she crossed the wide sea to American waters. The writer of this blog hopes that this compilation of the individual posts on the "Volontaires du Luxembourg" will serve as a type of index for the French presence on board the frigate South Carolina.)
In the course of this overall blog, two individuals have emerged as having been former members of the "Volontaires du Luxembourg". These two men also are identified as having filed for a claim against the state of South Carolina and were duly recorded in the documents associated with the frigate South Carolina. These two men are, as the title of this particular post indicates, Jacques Nicolas Mayeux and Valentine Nicholas Fontaine. According to Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, the section entitled "Appendix: Crew and Marines of the South Carolina", the two men are cited as follows:
Jacques Nicolas Mayeux French soldier, 3rd Company, Voluntaires du Luxembourg page 157
Valentine Nicholas Fontaine French soldier, 2nd Company, Voluntaires du Luxembourg page 147
(volunteer sailor)
Both of these men were soldats which means that they were private soldiers as opposed to corporals or sergeants. Mayeux was a member of the 3rd Company which might have been a newly re-constituted company due to the losses it incurred in the failed invasion of the Jersey Islands. Also, Fontaine is cited as having been both a member of the 2nd Company as well as a "volunteer sailor" on board the frigate South Carolina. Both of these men were almost certainly on the first but, not the second voyage of the frigate South Carolina. This assertion stems from the fact that neither of their names turn up on any of the three captive's lists of the three British men-of-war that brought the prisoners of the frigate South Carolina into New York City harbor between December 23-24, 1782. There is a "John Fontaine" cited as an American prisoner on board the Royal Navy frigate HMS Diomede but, this may well be another individual who has a similar last name but, is not the particular individual in question. Also, another reason for believing that they were only on the first cruise of the frigate is that neither of their claims against the state of South Carolina include a statement indicating that they were captured and spent time in a British prison. Most likely, these two men left the service of the state of South Carolina and the frigate South Carolina when the "Volontaires du Luxenbourg" as a unit departed the frigate after she docked in Philedelphia, PA harbor on May 29, 1782.
Both of these men did indeed file a claim against the state of South Carolina. According to Revill's work, Copy of the Original Index Book, their names appear as follows:
page 111 Valentine Nicholas Fontaine Entry Book page 156 Return Number --------
page 250 Nicholas James Moyeux Entry Book page 156 Return Number --------
Also, in the Revill's work, page 386, the following citation occurs regarding both men together and is as follows:
"See Moyeax and Fontaine Entry Book No. 3 page 156".
(Note: The information cited above is the basis for addressing both of these men in this specific post. In the letters that follow below in this post, only Mayeux (or Moyeux as spelled in Revill's work, Copy of the Original Index Book) is specifically named though "others" are referred to as having also filed claims against the state of South Carolina for services rendered on board the frigate South Carolina during the American Revolution.)
(Note: There do exist alternate spellings of both of these men's names in Lewis's work, Neptune's Militia, section entitled "Appendix: Roster of the Crew and Marines of the South Carolina". These alternate spellings are as follows:
Jacques Nicolas Mayeux James/Jacques Nicolas/Nicholas Moyeux French soldier page 159
Valentine Nicholas Fontaine Nicholas Foulaine, Toulaine, Fontaine? no "position" given page 147
There is reasoning behind the writer of this blog choosing the first cited spellings as the correct spellings of these two men's names. First, there are other independent sources that corroborate these spellings. For Jacques Nicolas Mayeux, there is at least one letter written by this man to Thomas Jefferson on April 9, 1787 in which his name is so spelled. For Fontaine, in Revill's work, Copy of the Original Index Book, page 386, his name is so spelled. None of the other alternate spellings appear in Revill's work, Copy of the Original Index Book. In Moss's work, Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution, neither of these men's names appear in any form at all. The second reason for accepting the initial cited spellings of these men's names as the correct forms is that the stated "positions" for each of the men is more "vague". The first man is simply stated as being a "French soldier" while the second one has no "position" given for him on board the frigate South Carolina. Thus, it is the opinion of the writer of this blog that the spellings of these two men's names as cited on pages 147 and 159, respectively, are redundant and are not the actual correct spellings of these two men.)
The letter that was written almost three and one half years after the conclusion of the American Revolution and constituted the first known foreign voice to be raised concerning services on board the frigate South Carolina is that of the Founders Online, National Archives document entitled "To Thomas Jefferson from Jacques Nicolas Mayeux" and is dated "Rozoy-sur-Serre, April 9, 1787". The letter, as it exists within the National Archives is evidently summarized and is as follows in in its entirety:
" States that he had petitioned the Prince of Luxembourg on April 15, 1783 to reimburse him for services at sea; had no reply; on March 15 last, he again applied to the Prince, who replied that his claim for services on the ship, L'Indien, was not the Prince's responsibility; that he had paid for such services up to the time of sailing; that the ship was chartered by the state of South Carolina, Capt. Gillon being in full charge; that the claims should be presented to Thomas Jefferson; and that he had already urged Thomas Jefferson to pay the soldiers and sailors the wages due them and their shares of the prizes of which Capt. Gillon has given no account. The petitioner claims payment for 300 livres (10 sous per day) for pay while he was at sea on the ship, L'Indien, having received nothing for twenty months service during 1781 and 1782, together with his share of the prize money for three ships and their cargoes; begs Thomas Jefferson in accordance with the King's proclamation of August 4, 1786, to recover for him the money he won by endangering his life.".
Jacques Nicolas Mayeux, a soldat of the 3rd Company of the "Volontaires du Luxembourg", was very specific in describing his services performed on board the frigate South Carolina. Even though he refers to the frigate by her original name, L'Indien, he states that he served on board the patriot ship-of-war "...for twenty months during 1781 and 1782...". The frigate L'Indien/South Carolina departed The Texel, Holland on August 4, 1781 and arrived at Philadelphia, PA on May 29, 1782, a period of roughly twenty-one months at sea. He even calculated how much was owed to him, "...300 livres (10 sous per day)...", for services provided on board the frigate "...together with his share of prize money for three ships and their cargoes...". But, being that he was no more than a common soldier pleading for what he felt was rightfully owed to him, he "...begs Thomas Jefferson..." to abide by the proclamation of Louis XVI issued on August 4, 1786 and "...recover for him the money he won by endangering his life...". A just and fair plea made by a man who may have doubted that anything would come of it even though he had truly risked his life on board the frigate South Carolina in the service of his Prince and the service of the state of South Carolina.
(Note: It is somewhat interesting to note that the proclamation of Louis XVI was issued exactly, to the day, five years after the frigate South Carolina departed from Holland.)
A footnote at the bottom of the page indicates that the original letter is indeed written in French. Another footnote attached to the third letter which is cited immediately below indicates that the above cited letter was the introduction for Thomas Jefferson, then on a mission to France, to the issue of claims against the state of South Carolina which would take almost three-quarters of a century to settle, the final settlement being reached in 1854.
The second letter concerning these claims against the state of South Carolina for services rendered on board the frigate South Carolina is really nothing more than a brief passage in a much longer letter written by Thomas Jefferson to John Jay. This passage is a part of the Founders Online, National Archives document entitled "From Thomas Jefferson to John Jay" and is dated "Paris June 21, 1787". The single-sentence passage in question appears almost at the very end of the longer missive and is as follows:
"I have the honor to inclose you also copies of a letter and papers from the Marechal de Castries on the claim of an individual against the state of South Carolina fro services performed on board the Indian [L'Indien]; and the petition of another on a like claim.".
This initial reference to a claim against the state of South Carolina is almost certainly the petition of Jacques Nicolas Mayeux, as seen in the first letter immediately above. But, the second even more brief passage is intriguing - "... and the petition of another on a like claim.". It is entirely possible that this was the first appearance of the claim of Valentine Nicholas Fontaine also against the state of South Carolina for services very similar to those of Jacques Nicolas Mayeux on board the same ship-of-war. So, when these two men's claims were brought to the attention of the state of South Carolina, they were brought together almost as a single claim against the state for services rendered during the American Revolution. Thus, these two separate claims against the state of South Carolina were almost treated as one in terms of the entry books as is noted above in reference to Revill's work, Copy of the Original Index Book, page 386.
The third and final letter is quite brief and is written by Thomas Jefferson to Charles Pinckney on January 12, 1792, nearly five years after the receipt of the first letter. This letter is the Founders Online, National Archives document entitled "From Thomas Jefferson to Charles Pinckney" and is dated "Philadelphia, January 12, 1792". The contents of this letter are as follows:
"Sir
I have the honor to inclose to your Excellency a petition from certain persons in France urging claims against the state of South Carolina for services performed on board the Indian [L'Indien] frigate; which was transmitted to me by our Charge des affaires at the court of France -- I am with sentiments of the most profound respect Your Excellency's Most obedt. & most humble servt.,
Thomas Jefferson"
Charles Pinckney was the governor of South Carolina in January 1792 and Thomas Jefferson was on a mission for the United States to France which had been embroiled in the chaos of the French Revolution since 1789. Again, as in the first two letters, the frigate is referred to officially as "...the Indian frigate..." instead of the frigate South Carolina. But, this is the first instance of the use of the phrase "...from certain persons in France..." indicating, as the second letter's cryptic passage implied, that there are others who have also filed claims against the state of South Carolina for services rendered on board the frigate South Carolina. The inclusion of Valentine Nicholas Fontaine together with Jacques Nicolas Mayeux in the entry in Revill's work, Copy of the Original Index Book, page 386, leads the writer of this blog to assume that by this point in time, at the very least, the claims filed by these two former French soldats of the "Volontaires du Luxembourg" had reached the state of South Carolina. Thus, the inclusion of both of these men and their claims for services rendered on board the frigate South Carolina in defense of the goals of the American Revolution.
This has been the narrative of two soldats of the French Army regiment known as the "Volontaires du Luxembourg" - Jacques Nicolas Mayeux of the 3rd Company and Valentine Nicholas Fontaine of the 2nd Company of the same unit. There is no reason to believe that either of these men were more than just common soldiers who, in their demeanor and conduct, represented the greater majority of the "Volontaires du Luxembourg". After all, both of these men were "soldats" which indicates that they were not corporals or sergeants of which each company contained a few of both of these ranks. There is no indication that either of them were promoted during their service on board the frigate South Carolina. When the frigate finally moored in Philadelphia, PA, the regiment en masse departed the frigate and sought out other means to return to France. There were any number of French Army units in the Philadelphia area and the officers, NCOs and enlisted men probably found it most convenient to simply attach themselves to departing French units and by thus doing so, effect their return home. More than likely, the two above mentioned soldats did just this and left American -- possibly forever. But, years later, they would hear of an important American, Thomas Jefferson -- writer of the Declaration of Independence, as he was on a mission for the United States in France. They would have seen their opportunity to present their claims against a sovereign state of those United States -- South Carolina. So, they both wrote to him, imploring Thomas Jefferson to argue their cause with a state of those United States. From one of the above referenced letters, we know that Thoas Jefferson wrote to the governor of South Carolina, Charles Pinckney, concerning this issue. Possibly, just possibly, the success of these two lone former members of the "Volontaires du Luxembourg" would ignite a similar desire among other former members of that same French Army unit to attempt the same on their own behalfs. Maybe, just maybe, these two former soldats started an effort all across the former members of the "Volontaires du Luxembourg" to gain redress from the newest democracy on the face of the earth -- the United Sates of America -- for services they all had rendered in defense of her new-found liberties. Only further research can elucidate this point as to its validity. But, it remains unknown to the writer of this blog whether or not Jacques Nicolas Mayeux or Valentine Nicholas Fontaine, both former members of the "Volontaires du Luxembourg", ever immigrated to and settled in the United States of America.