Marion, Connecticut
Connecticut
A hill in this Connecticut neighborhood is called French Hill because Rochambeau's army slept on it in 1781.
In June of seventeen eighty-one, French troops under General Rochambeau marched thirteen miles out of Farmington and stopped here. It was their eighth camp along the route through Connecticut, and they stayed four days. Rochambeau and his officers took shelter in Asa Barns' tavern. The soldiers pitched camp on the hill across the road. That hill has been called French Hill ever since, and a marker on the east side of Marion Avenue notes where the campsite was. Rochambeau came back to the same tavern on the return march, in October of seventeen eighty-two. The tavern is still standing. In nineteen eighty-seven it was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its architecture and its history. Nobody serves anything there now. It's a private house.
This is the first of 2 parts. The rest runs about 2 minutes and is read to you as you drive past. Hear the whole piece.
The area of the encampment has since become known as French Hill, and a marker on the east side of Marion Avenue commemorates the French campsite.
Written from Wikipedia, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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