Documenting a Proposed 1781 French-American Attack on New York: The Chastellux Archive and the Epic Finale That Never Was

Abstract: In the summer of 1781, a Franco-American army under the command of George Washington contemplated an elaborate attack on New York City that, it hoped, would bring the American War for Independence to a close. The details of that plan were lost to history, until a few years ago. Discovered in the papers of Francois-Jean de Chastellux in the private Chastellux family archives in Burgundy, France, the battleplan is now in the George Washington Presidential Library in Mount Vernon, Virginia. Historians of the American War of Independence have traditionally depicted the summer of 1781 as a period of rest for the Continental and French armies. The Chastellux battleplan showcases the extent to which Washington considered an attack on New York and highlights a complex preparatory operation conducted in its suburbs that gave both armies the chance to work together long before they went into action in Yorktown.