Vineyards to Victory: A French Soldier, Yorktown, and the Making of an American Family

A multigenerational French-American migration story rooted in the Revolutionary War.

From the vineyards of France to the battlefield of Yorktown, and from one village in Haute-Saône to a French settlement in northern New York, Vineyards to Victory tells the true story of Siméon Gaugien, a farmer's son whose service with Rochambeau's army helped shape an American family for generations to come.

Siméon joined Rochambeau's expeditionary force and sailed to America in 1780 to fight for a nation not his own. Trained as a French artilleryman, he endured a seventy-day Atlantic crossing, a winter encampment in Newport, and the decisive Siege of Yorktown, where French cannon helped force Lord Cornwallis's surrender and secure American independence.

But victory was only the beginning.

Siméon returned to a France poisoned by volcanic winter, upended by revolution, and scarred by war. Through upheaval and grief, he and his family endured, measuring time not by decree but by soil and season. Generations later, his descendants crossed the Atlantic again, founding a French settlement in northern New York that carried the name of the village they left behind.

The stories of Washington, Rochambeau, and Lafayette have been told. This is the story of the men who fought alongside them, and of the families who carried their legacy across the ocean.

Grounded in four years of archival research across French and American archives, this meticulously documented narrative gives voice to the 30,000 French soldiers and sailors whose sacrifice helped make American independence possible. Every soldier named in these pages is a documented historical individual. Every major event is drawn from primary sources.

"It took more than famous names to win American Independence. Both an engaging read and a powerful educational tool, it belongs in as many households as possible."

- Chuck Schwam, Executive Director, American Friends of Lafayette

This is the story of deep roots, cultivated in the vineyards of France, weathered by revolution, and carried to new life in America.

Published in commemoration of America's 250th Anniversary of Independence.