One of the most important contributions ever made to the naval records of our Revolutionary War was the recent discovery of six accurately executed drawings showing the ships of Count D'Estaing in American waters during the year 1778. For this we are indebted to the Carnegie Institution of Washington, whose systematic search of French archives for American historical material found these exceedingly interesting pictures in the Louvre.
The mere probability of the coming of D'Estaing's fleet, like some invisible gigantic hand, had pulled the greatly superior British Army out of the perfect security of Philadelphia, and sent it scurrying on forced marches across New Jersey, in retreat before much smaller numbers of American troops weakened by the epic rigors at Valley Forge.
Arriving at the Delaware entrance barely too late to intercept the British transports carrying their army's heavy baggage from Philadelphia to New York, the French Admiral followed to the latter point but declined to attack there in en-operation with Washington's army, and chose instead an enterprise against Newport, then held by a second British army of 6,000 men.
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