Tousard, Ann-Louis

TOUSARD, ANN-LOUIS. (1749–1817). French and U.S. officer. Born in Paris on 12 March 1749, Tousard, the son of a general, graduated from the French Artillery Academy and volunteered for service with the Americans in the Revolution. He arrived in America during April 1777 as part of the group led by Philippe Tronson du Coudray. After the latter's death in October, Tousard became a captain attached to the marquis de Lafayette's staff. After taking part in the Battles of Germantown and Brandywine, Tousard spent the winter of 1777–1778 at Valley Forge. In March 1778 he was appointed military adviser to allied Oneida Indians. He was present with the Oneidas when they covered Lafayette's retreat before a far superior British force at the Battle of Barren Hill on 21 May 1778. Tousard then transferred to the staff of General John Sullivan for the unsuccessful French-American campaign against Newport, Rhode Island. Tousard lost his right arm during the Battle of Quaker Hill on 28 August 1778. His heroic performance in that battle earned him promotion to lieutenant colonel of the Continental army on 29 October 1778. Returning to France, he received the Royal Order of St. Louis on 3 July 1779 and was made a major of artillery on 5 April 1780.

In 1784 Tousard was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the French army and stationed on Saint-Domingue (Haiti). In the slave revolt led by Toussaint L'Ouverture, Tousard in 1791–1792 commanded troops battling the slaves and attempted to persuade the local government to arm free blacks but was ignored. Nonetheless, he was blamed for the failure of the colonial officials to obey orders from France in this regard and was arrested and imprisoned. U.S. pressure effected his release in February 1793, and he settled on a farm outside Wilmington, Delaware.

In April 1795 President George Washington appointed Tousard a major in the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers, beginning a period in which he had enormous influence on the U.S. military. After supervising the construction of several significant fortifications, he restructured the U.S. artillery service on the French model, bringing uniformity to its use of cannon. In 1798 he laid out the plans for what would become the Military Academy at West Point. Also, his American Artillerists Companion (1809) became the standard text for the instruction of artillery use in the United States. Along the way he aided Eleuthère Irénée du Pont in establishing gunpowder mills in Delaware, which would prove vital to American interests. After being named inspector of artillery in 1800, Tousard became commander of the Second Artillery Regiment in January 1801. Incredibly, when the Academy at West Point was completed in 1802, President Thomas Jefferson passed over Tousard for superintendent because he was French. Tousard resigned in March 1802, returning to the French army as a battalion commander in General Victor Leclerc's failed attempt to conquer Haiti. Tousard served as a French consul in the United States during 1805–1816, returning in the latter year to France, where he died in Paris on 10 April 1817.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Tousard, Ann-Louis. Tousard Papers. William L. Clements Library. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.