A Dauphin Is Born: West Point, 1782
In May 1782 a feu de joie at West Point celebrated the birth of the Dauphin of France, and was witnessed by a Dr. Thacher.
The arbor was, in the evening, illuminated by a vast number of lights, which, being arranged in regular and tasteful order, exhibited a scene vying in brilliancy with the starry firmament. The officers having rejoined their regiments, thirteen cannon were again fired as a prelude to the general feu-de-joie, which immediately succeeded throughout the whole line of the army on the surrounding hills, and being three times repeated, the mountains resounded and echoed like tremendous peals of thunder, and the flashing from thousands of firearms in the darkness of the evening, could be compared only to the most vivid flashes of lightning from the clouds. The feu-de-joie was immediately followed by three shouts of acclamation and benediction for the Dauphin by the united voices of the whole army on all sides.
The same event was also recollected by Captain Eben Williams:
At a given signal, a running fire began at the south end of the line and extended along the west side of the river to the north end, when the feu-de-joie was caught by the troops on the opposite side of the river and carried south. Thus did the rattle of musketry three times make its distant circuit along the Hudson . . . .
Read more about this topic: Feu De Joie, Historical Precedents
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