Louis Antoine Cambray-Digny
Louis Antoine Jean Baptiste de Cambray-Digny (1751–1822) was a French officer who fought in the American Revolution. Born in Florence to French parents, he joined the French artillery in 1770 and served until 1774. In 1778 he sailed to America with letters of introduction, including one from Benjamin Franklin to George Washington. The Continental Congress made him a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army on June 13, 1778.
He fought at the Battle of Monmouth and then helped on fortifications in Charleston, South Carolina and at Pittsburgh, where he directed the construction of Fort McIntosh as chief engineer. In February 1779 he was sent to Baltimore and Edenton to lead troops in the Southern Campaign, reporting to General Benjamin Lincoln. He assisted in the Savannah Campaign and, in late 1779, with Colonel Jean Baptiste Joseph, Chevalier de Laumoy, helped improve Charleston’s defenses. He was captured on May 12, 1780 with Lincoln's army and was exchanged in the fall of 1782. He spent about two years as a prisoner of war.
For his fortification work during the 1780 siege of Charleston, he received a medal from the South Carolina Assembly. He was one of only 15 Americans to receive a Revolutionary War medal, and one of only two awarded to a French officer. In October 1782, after his release, he sat for a portrait by Charles Willson Peale, wearing his uniform and the medal; the painting is linked to Independence Hall.
After seven years in uniform, with two spent as a prisoner of war, he returned to France and retired with the rank of Brevet Colonel, being honorably discharged on November 15, 1782. He took a small part in the French elections of 1789 and the French Revolution. He died in 1822 at the age of 71 at his château in the Somme.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 12:01 (CET).