31 Clarke St, Newport, Rhode Island in 1977
Count Axel von Fersen (the younger) was an extremely interesting Swedish nobleman, courtier, and officer. He worked in (or led or owned?) a Swedish regiment in Paris. He was the lover of Queen Marie Antoinette. He tried to save her and her husband King Louis XVI from the French revolutionaries and almost made it to the border, but failed at the last moment. He was in America with a French army under the command of Marechal Rochambeau, aiding the revolutionaries. He acted as interpreter for de Damas and Rochambeau, who spoke no English, and George Washington, who spoke no French. von Fersen's actions at the battle of Yorktown led to his becoming a member of the prestigious Order of Cincinnatus.
This Newport house on 31 Clark Street was obviously the headquarter for him and Marquis de Damas.
von Fersen met with a tragic death back in Sweden, when he was the Marshal of the Realm. He was falsely rumored to have been behind the death of the successor to the Swedish throne, Prince Karl August. Consequently, a mob dragged him out of his carriage, attacked and killed him in a Stockholm street.
Rescanned in March 2018
31 Clarke St, Newport, Rhode Island in 1977
Count Axel von Fersen (the younger) was an extremely interesting Swedish nobleman, courtier, and officer. He worked in (or led or owned?) a Swedish regiment in Paris. He was the lover of Queen Marie Antoinette. He tried to save her and her husband King Louis XVI from the French revolutionaries and almost made it to the border, but failed at the last moment. He was in America with a French army under the command of Marechal Rochambeau, aiding the revolutionaries. He acted as interpreter for de Damas and Rochambeau, who spoke no English, and George Washington, who spoke no French. von Fersen's actions at the battle of Yorktown led to his becoming a member of the prestigious Order of Cincinnatus.
This Newport house on 31 Clark Street was obviously the headquarter for him and Marquis de Damas.
von Fersen met with a tragic death back in Sweden, when he was the Marshal of the Realm. He was falsely rumored to have been behind the death of the successor to the Swedish throne, Prince Karl August. Consequently, a mob dragged him out of his carriage, attacked and killed him in a Stockholm street.
Rescanned in March 2018