NUM. ET PRAEMIUM. (_Virtutis et audaciae
monumentum et praemium: A memorial and reward of courage and
boldness._) Lieutenant-Colonel de Fleury, as a Roman soldier,
helmeted, stands amidst the ruins of a fort, holding in his right hand
a sword, and in his left the staff of an enemy's flag, which he
tramples under his right foot Exergue: D. (_sic_) DE FLEURY EQUITI
GALLO PRIMO SUPER MUROS RESP. AMERIC. D.D. (_D. de Fleury equiti gallo
primo super muros Respublica Americana dono dedit: The American
Republic presented this gift to D. de Fleury, a French knight, the
first to mount the walls._) DUVIVIER.

AGGERES PALUDES HOSTES VICTI. (_Fortifications, marshes, enemies
overcome._) The fortress of Stony Point. Six vessels on the Hudson
River. Exergue: STONY-PT. EXPUGN. XV JUL. MDCCLXXIX. (_Stony Point
expugnatum, 15 Julii, 1779: Stony Point carried by storm, July 15,
1779_).[33]

[Footnote 33: See INTRODUCTION, pages ix, x, xi,
xii, xv, xxiii, xxviii, xxxv; G, xlv; and H,
xlvii.]

I give an extended biography of the Chevalier de Fleury, the only
foreigner to whom a medal was awarded during the Revolutionary War,
because no accurate account of him has hitherto been published. The
facts were obtained partly from the archives of the French Ministry of
War, through the politeness of M. Camille Roussel, member of the
French Academy, and at the time historiographer of the Ministry of
War, and partly from the archives of the Ministry of Marine. I am (p. 023)
also indebted to M. Roussel for the memorial (petition) of M. de
Fleury, a translation of which is given below.

FRANCOIS LOUIS TEISSEIDRE DE FLEURY, son of Francois Teisseidre,
Seigneur de Fleury, was born at St. Hippolyte, Languedoc, France,
August 28, 1749. He entered the French army as a volunteer in the
regiment of Rouergue infantry, May 15, 1768; became second-lieutenant,
September 15, 1768; lieutenant second class, of rifles, June 11, 1776;
first lieutenant, June 2, 1777; major of Saintonge infantry, March 19,
1780; colonel of the Pondichery (India) regiment, January 16, 1784;
marechal-de-camp, June 30, 1791; and resigned, June 24, 1792. He was
made a knight of St. Louis, December 5, 1781. The Chevalier de Fleury
served in Corsica during the campaigns of 1768, 1769, and 1770. Having
been commissioned a captain of engineers in 1776, he obtained a
furlough and entered the American army as a volunteer, was appoi