nted
by Congress a captain of engineers, May 22, 1777, and was sent first
to General Washington's army, and toward the end of the campaign to
Fort Mifflin, where he was wounded. At the battle of the Brandywine,
he had a horse shot under him, and was again wounded. Congress presented
him with a horse, "as a testimonial of the sense they had of his
merits," September 13, 1777, and promoted him to a lieutenant-colonelcy,
"in consideration of the disinterested gallantry he had manifested in
the service of the United States," November 26, 1777. In the assault
on Stony Point, July 15, 1779, he commanded one of the attacks, was
the first to enter the main works, and struck the British flag with
his own hands, for which gallant deed Congress voted him a silver
medal. On Friday, October 1, 1779, Congress passed the following
resolution concerning Lieutenant-Colonel de Fleury: "_Resolved_, That
Congress entertain a high sense of the zeal, activity, military
genius, and gallantry of Lieutenant-Colonel Fleury, which he has
exhibited on a variety of occasions during his service in the armies
of these States, wherein, while he has rendered essential benefit to
the American cause, he has deservedly acquired the esteem of the army
and gained unfading reputation for himself." He continued in America
after General Count de Rochambeau's arrival, serving under him in the
campaigns of 1780, 1781, and 1782; and received a pension of four
hundred livres by royal decree of May 8, 1783, in consideration of his
distinguished services, especially at the siege and taking of (p. 024)
Yorktown, October 19, 1781. He afterward served in India, commanded
in chief the islands of Mauritius and of Bourbon from May to November,
1785, obtained a pension of one thousand livres, in consideration of
his services, November, 1786, and returned to France in April, 1790.
He held the rank of marechal-de-camp in the army of the North, and
commanded at Montmedy after General de Bouille's flight in 1791, and
at Givet and Cambray in 1791 and 1792. At the breaking out of the war
he was at Valenciennes, and served under Marshals de Rochambeau and de
Luckner. During the retreat from Mons his horse, which had been shot
under him, fell upon him, and, while lying helpless in that position,
he was ridden over by the enemy's cavalry. After a long illness he
left the army, June 24, 1792, and retired to Rebais, in the Department
of Seine-et-Oise.