Among the 5,000 French troops sent to Newport, R.I. in July 1780 by His Most Christian Majesty Louis VXI, with General Comte de Rochambeau at their head, was the Regiment Soissonnais which traced its lineage to the mid-15th century. Though diarists tell us that Newport was aghast at the glitter of the new arrivals - meticulous uniforms, mountains of baggage, and retinues of servants to attend the young nobles (A Prince, three Ducs, a Marquis, numerous Comte, Barons, scores of Chevaliers, and an untitled young Jean Charles Berthier who at 20 was already a Rochambeau aide and destined to become Napoleon' Chief of Staff), there was an air of proficiency about them. The core of the unit were veterans of the Seven Year War with Britain, and the Second-Colonel was Lafayette's brother-in-law, the Vicomte de Noailles. The regimental motto was "What matter my death if we win the battle." Such was the Soissonnais....

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