JohnWolfe3rd
New Member
Actually, the quote from Rochambeau is a little different ... not "I have need of you," but "if I have need of you" -- here it is is from an article in the 1885 Revue francaise de l'etranger et des colonies:
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My children, if I have need of you tonight I hope that you won’t have forgotten that we have served together in this grand regiment called “Auvergne sans tache” (Auvergne without stain), an honorable name it has merited since its creation.
They responded to me, added Rochambeau in his Memoirs, that if I promised to give them that name, they would [fight] to the very last man.
We will see that they kept their word.
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Actually, the French is weird, because the soldiers actually respond "we will die to the last man" or "we will get killed to the last man." Maybe that would be better ...
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My children, if I have need of you tonight I hope that you won’t have forgotten that we have served together in this grand regiment called “Auvergne sans tache” (Auvergne without stain), an honorable name it has merited since its creation.
They responded to me, added Rochambeau in his Memoirs, that if I promised to give them that name, they would [fight] to the very last man.
We will see that they kept their word.
-----
Actually, the French is weird, because the soldiers actually respond "we will die to the last man" or "we will get killed to the last man." Maybe that would be better ...