Anne-César de La Luzerne (1741–1791)
Anne-César Chevalier de La Luzerne was born in Paris to Norman nobility on 15 July 1741. He served as a cavalry officer and special envoy to the elector of Bavaria before his appointment as French minister to the United States. Luzerne arrived in Philadelphia in the fall of 1779 and soon proved to be a strong supporter of the young nation. He played a key role in the 1781 ratification of the Articles of Confederation, pressuring Maryland into compliance by suggesting that French naval forces would be withheld from the Chesapeake otherwise.
Robert Rhodes Crout, "La Luzerne, Anne-César de," in Harold E. Selesky, ed., Encyclopedia of the American Revolution (Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006), Volume I, 601.
James J. Walsh, "The Chevalier de la Luzerne," Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, Volume 16, Number 2 (June 1905), 162–86.
George L. Sioussat and J. Maccubbin, "The Chevalier de la Luzerne and the Ratification of the Articles of Confederation by Maryland, 1780-1781: With Accompanying Documents," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 60, Number 4 (October 1936), 391–418.
"To George Washington from Thomas-Antoine, Mauduit Du Plessis, 4 May 1779," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-20-02-0288. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 20, 8 April–31 May 1779, ed. Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2010, pp. 324–325.]
"To George Washington from La Luzerne, 18 February 1784," Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/04-01-02-0094. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series, vol. 1, 1 January 1784 – 17 July 1784, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1992, pp. 128–129.]
"Luzerne, Anne Cesar de la, 1741–1791," Dartmouth Library Archives and Manuscripts, Hanover, New Hampshire.