Mallard Fillmore: Ithaca resident complains about attacks on French

Mallard Fillmore/Jewish World Review ^ | 5/6/03 | Bruce Tinsley

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Mallard reads a letter from a reader: "Stop making from of the French. After all, they helped us out in the revolutionary war, signed 'Indignant in Ithaca.'"

I wonder if this means he heard about the Ithaca Frenchfest?

Ithaca is the City of Evil.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

City of Evil bump

[Zavien Doombringer]

Ithaca's Motto:

ALL YOUR EVIL ARE BELONG TO US!

[talleyman]

The ones who helped us in our revolutionary war either fled or were executed during the French revolution.

[Zavien Doombringer]

The only French that helped us was LaFeyettes Fleet in the York River,a few shipments of Charlevilles (older model 1763's then later in the war 1777 AN IX Corrige' Charlevilles - I have one) equalling about 75,000 muskets. A few ground troops to train Militia (scenes from the Patriot - Most of the training was done by Von Stueben).
True, we needed the "edge" from the french to get us over, but we could have done it with out them. The war would have taken longer, but we would have won anyway.

[NativeNewYorker]

It is pretty bad when the funnies are making fun of the place!!

[Psycho_Bunny]

Yes....and they only helped us because helping us was a poke in the English Eye.

Had we been fighting for independence from any country other than England, the French would not have helped.

[lepton]

There were several thousand French troops with us at the Battle of Yorktown.

[lepton]

Yes....and they only helped us because helping us was a poke in the English Eye.

Lafeyette and some of the other nobles actually idealized our fight. Lafeyette wasn't just an idle noble, he was a member of the French Kings war council, even at his young age.

One might also note that the Declaration of Independence was written with the French in mind.

...Then the French went and used our same words and phrases, and totally misunderstood their meaning.

[Zavien Doombringer]

There were several thousand French troops with us at the Battle of Yorktown.

Yes, that is true. My bust...

[mabelkitty]

Yes, but that was well over 200 years ago.

What have they done for us since?

[Psycho_Bunny]

Well, to the extent that that was true, it was true.

But it was not enough to convince me that the French would have become involved had we been fighting against anyone other than England.

Remember that in the late 1700's there were more than a few Huguenots in the colonies:  and they're relationship wasn't all warm and fuzzy.

[Zavien Doombringer]

Plagued our schools with thier language classes!

[theDentist]

"... they helped us out in the revolutionary war.."

What have they done for us lately?

[ModelBreaker]

What have they done for us since?

Well, they let us follow Charles DeGaulle into Paris when he liberated Paris from the Nazis. He could have told us just to butt out, you know. Well, come to think of it, he did.

[r9etb]

...Then the French went and used our same words and phrases, and totally misunderstood their meaning.

Actually, I think the difference was because the Americans were a "Moral and Religious People," (John Adams), who were already used to self-government.

The leaders of the French Revolution, OTOH, were neither moral nor religious, and the French people were not in any way ready for self-government.

[Cacophonous]

It wasn't Lafayette's fleet, it was Admiral de Grasse's fleet that kept the British bottled up and out of the mouth of the York River. Lafayette was really no more than adviser and close confidant of Washington's. General Rochambeau, however, had a fairly large French contingent, forming the left flank at the final battle (Washington's troops formed the right).

True, we needed the "edge" from the french to get us over, but we could have done it with out them. The war would have taken longer, but we would have won anyway.

Now, don't let your current passions cloud history. Fact is, if de Grasse had not bottled up the English, the Americans would have had to deal with the English fleet (under Adm. Thomas Graves), and the English soldiers would have had an escape, and a chance to live and fight another day.

Fact is, we could NOT have done it without the French.

[Zavien Doombringer]

Again, stand corrected. I am looking up my notes :)
The reinforcments from Graves would have been disasterous for the continentals.