‘You would not believe how everyone is fed up with waging war in this country here,’ Schwerin added. ‘The reason is quite simple in that one is obliged to buy one’s forage with one’s own money, and no one gives you your ration that is your due in times of war. You know yourself, my dear uncle, that when one has to constantly keep a hand on one’s purse to pay the forage for a horse and one’s bread and food stuff how that very much disgusts a young man, especially when one does not have a lot of gold. I found out that it is much better if I keep my horse this winter. It is true that forage is very expensive, but so are horses in Virginia. That is why I kept my horse for the coming campaign. As I only had three shirts left that were halfway passable, I had to buy myself one dozen shirts. I assure you, my dear uncle, that that put a dent in my purse that will take a long time to fill. One shirt with cuffs and labor cost me pretty close to 24 livres, but what can one do? I can not walk around without shirts. After the capture of Lord Cornwallis I made the acquaintance of a Hessian officer who let me have a tent, which I stood in great need of. I had the misfortune that the tent I brought from France tore to pieces because of the weather during our great marches. All is torn. It is true that the one I bought was not very expensive compared to others; it cost me 5 Louis d’Or (120 livres).

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‘I ask you kindly, my dear uncle, to give me your news. Send your letters to [Anne Camasse] the Countess Forbach, she will make certain they reach me. I could not be more concerned about the fact that I have only received one single letter from you. I ask you, my dear uncle, to assure my dear aunt and my dear cousins of my very humble respects, and I ask you humbly not to forget him who has the honor to remain with most profound respect.

My dear uncle
Your very humble and
Very obedient servant
Guilaume Comte de Schwerin’

Though Schwerin did not return to France until 1783, no further correspondence with Reingard is known to have survived.

His complaints about high prices in America began almost the moment Schwerin set foot in the New World. Like virtually every member of Rochambeau’s corps, Schwerin thought that the inhabitants of Newport treated the foreigners fort mal honette (dishonestly), and were anxious to cheat them out of their money. How else could one explain prices of 22 sous for a single pound of bread or 4 to 6 sous for a pound of potatoes, when a fusilier earned but 9 sous 6 denar per day in America, a grenadier 11 sous, a sub-lieutenant such as Schwerin 4 livres or 80 sous? His lunch alone cost him 80 livres per months in Newport; in the evenings he ate ‘but a piece of bread’ and a lot of potatoes. His servant, who he was required to keep, cost him 15 livres in cash wages and 35 livres for food each month, plus a clothing allowance, while boots sold for 40 livres, and the material for a shirt cost 9 florins or 18 livres, 15 sous, according to a letter dated July 12, 1781, that he mailed from Philippsburg, Pa. At 24 livres (nearly 1 pound sterling) apiece, his shirts in Williamsburg were not out of line with the prices demanded in New England, but nevertheless cost him three months’ wages for each dozen he purchased. In July 1775, however, a shirt could be had in Williamsburg for 5 shillings, or about one-fourth of what Schwerin paid in 1781.

In preparation for the 1781 campaign, Schwerin had to hire a second servant and a petit horse for 300 livres. Good horses cost twice that much and more. Since his servants also needed horses on top of costing him 100 livres per month, it is easy to see why Schwerin’s 1,200 livres did not cover all expenses. Even the annual subsidy from his uncle paid for only part of his needs, and Schwerin had to borrow liberally while in Virginia. The one bright spot in his campaign had been the storming of Redoubt No. 9 and the subsequent surrender of Cornwallis. That led to his eventual promotion, but even that cost him two months’ salary, while the accompanying pay raise was only 15 livres more per year.

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