“The Garden of America” Rochambeau in Mahwah, 1781

French forces under Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau entered New Jersey in the early morning hours of 26 August 1781. The inhabitants of Mahwah, like all their fellow citizens of Bergen County, were uneasy about these visitors. Long-time enemies, the French had become America’s allies in 1778. But New Jerseyans knew little about the French or how they would behave. Conversely the French soldiers marching into Mahwah knew just as little about what awaited them in New Jersey. This illustrated talk provides examples of Franco-American encounters and mutual impressions of people and their customs, the process of “getting to know each other, and the beauty of northern New Jersey, called le Jardin d’Amérique by French officers.
About the speaker: Robert A Selig, Ph.D., has been the consultant and project historian to the National Park Service for the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail Project.

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