The Dakota Scout Independence Day weekend quiz
Revolutionary allies
It’s important to recognize the United States wouldn’t have won independence if it hadn’t been for a dedicated bunch of foreign allies!
From playwrights to bankers, general officers, diplomats and admirals from various countries, this Independence Day we recognize them as indispensable for our country’s existence.
So please enjoy this latest quiz from The Dakota Scout on our amazing revolutionary allies.
1. This Prussian nobleman should be well known to most Americans. He volunteered to come over and train our American soldiers, finally getting them somewhat combat ready against the British. He actually wasn’t a nobleman at all – a complete fraud, really – but still, nine days after he trained our Continental troops at Valley Forge in 1777–78, the Continentals went toe to toe with the British (usually they ran away up to that point). During World War I, Americans of German descent, suspected of disloyalty, started a society in his honor (and during World War II they were vociferous against the Nazis as well). This “drillmaster of Valley Forge” is buried in a small grave in upstate New York. Who was he?
A. Baron von Richthofen
B. Baron von Steuben
2. As a sidenote to the answer in #1, what’s the (shorthand name) for the manual that this foreign soldier bequeathed to the Continental armies? (It subsequently became the U.S. Army’s first Field Manual ever.)
A. Steuben’s “Blue Book”
B. Steuben’s “Smart Book”
C. Steuben’s “Brown Book”
3. Americans have made fun of the French ever since the horrible XYZ Affair. But before that incident, and in subsequent history, France was a strong ally (particularly after the crucial Battle of Saratoga in 1777). This individual Frenchman came with 5,500 troops in 1780 and headed South in a pincer movement to help pin down Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781 and force his surrender. Washington was overwhelmed with gratitude to this man! Even though there was a slight French-American compensation kerfuffle involving this general right after the war, he helped us win it. After that, he returned to France and was jailed during the French Revolution. He would have been guillotined during the Reign of Terror, but Robespierre, the arch-executioner, was beheaded before him! Pardoned by Napoleon, this general retired to his estate, living to age 81 in 1807. Today, a statue of him stands across the street from The White House in President’s Park. Who was he?
A. Rochefort
B. Rocheville
C. Rochambeau
4. This French general was just 19 when he came to the United States. He came over as a protégé of the general in #5, paying his expenses out of his own pocket. He became like an adopted son to George Washington, serving on his staff alongside Alexander Hamilton. After the American Revolution, he went back to France, became a grand marechal and supported the French Revolution (though the far-left Jacobins were always plotting against him). He is one of eight people to be awarded honorary U.S. citizenship by Congress (we’ll see this again and again in this quiz). Some of the major battles he fought in were Brandywine, Monmouth and Yorktown, and he was with Washington at Valley Forge. The guy was gutsy. After the war, writing directly to George Washington, he proposed the abolition of slavery. But that was just the first act. When he returned to France, he wrote the Declaration of the Rights Of Man and the Citizen (with help from U.S. Ambassador to France Thomas Jefferson) and was thrown in prison during a war with Austria; after five years, Napoleon got him out. He was invited by President Monroe to visit this country in 1824. This 1824 portrait of him now hangs in the U.S. Capitol. He visited then-retired President Jefferson at Monticello and was hailed from towns across America during his tour (Pennsylvania’s Old State House began to be called Independence Hall after his visit). To celebrate his tour’s 200th anniversary, check out the funny video and cool audio tour of the places he visited! There are towns, counties and streets all over America named after this man, probably the most beloved of foreigners who helped create the United States. There was even a car company named after him! There’s only one right answer.
A: Marquis de Lafayette (extra points if you know his full name).
5. This Franco-German general came here from the Lowendal German regiment of the French Army. He had served in the War of Austrian Succession and the Seven Year’s War and was made a baron (unlike the person in #1). In 1768, the Duc De Choiseul asked him to feel out the sentiment in America regarding Britain. He found that a “spirit of independence” was pretty strong. In July 1777, he decided to serve with the Continental Army, bringing Lafayette with him. He was assigned to command a division of Maryland and Delaware troops at Valley Forge. At the Battle of Camden, Aug. 16, 1780, he died for this country. First, his horse was shot out from under him, and then he himself was shot and bayonetted three times by British soldiers. There are now numerous towns, counties, roads, and streets (one in New York City) named after him, as well as a U.S. Civil War warship and a World War I transport ship. George Washington himself said upon this man’s burial in Camden, S.C.: “The generous stranger, who came from a distant land to fight our battles and to water with his blood the tree of liberty. Would to God he had lived to share its fruits.” Who was this great foreign leader?
A. Johann Ewald
B. Johann Rall
C. Johann de Kalb
6. This French foreign minister worked with Benjamin Franklin to not only give the 13 colonies loans but also to provide military support. He foresaw in 1765, with the end of France as a major power in the New World, that the American colonists would “throw off the shackles” of Britain next. He was right. Courted by Benjamin Franklin (less so by John Adams in this scene from the HBO miniseries), his support of the Americans came at a time when many French, despite their hatred of the British, still didn’t want to fight them again a mere decade later. But he prevailed, and America had French help after all. There’s a town in Vermont named after him (Ethan Allen made it so). Who was this French foreign minister who helped us?
A. Charles de Toulon, Comte de Toulon
B. Charles D’Estaing, Comte d’Estaing
C. Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes
7. You may not know this French playwright, but you certainly know his work: Rossini turned his play, The Barber of Seville, into an opera. (Most Americans might know it better from Bugs Bunny.) Mozart wrote an opera based on his Marriage of Figaro. But what you don’t know is that he did all kinds of clandestine activity for the American cause during the Revolution. Quite frankly, he ran guns for us in coordination with the French government. In fact, he procured most of the arms that the Americans had at the Battle of Saratoga. He helped set up the first intelligence service “front” company in our country’s history, Roderigue Hortalez and Company, in 1775. He was also a watchmaker, inventor, fugitive and smuggler. He ended up becoming wealthy by helping to supply Paris with clean drinking water. He died in 1796 in Paris, and there’s a street in Paris named after him. Who was this inventive playwright turned gun-smuggler who did so much for the American cause?
A. Pierre Beaulieu
B. Pierre Bienvenue
C. Pierre Beaumarchais
8. This French admiral was instrumental in the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781. The naval victory allowed the French and Americans to have control of the land and squash Cornwallis and the British southern army at Yorktown in October. He went on to become an honorary member of the American Order of the Cincinnati, and of course there’s a statue and monument of him at Yorktown, Virginia, today. Who was this great admiral who made possible our victory in the Revolution in 1781?
A. Admiral Francois Rochambeau
B. Admiral Francois De Grasse
C. Admiral Francois D’Estaing
9. Let’s not neglect our Spanish allies. This wily ambassador to the colonies from Spain helped us in the American Revolution. It wasn’t because he was some kind of believer in liberty (like Lafayette); the man was working for the Spanish King Charles III here in the New World. He wanted to make sure that the United States did not get more land from the British post-Revolution (he failed). He was one of the reasons why James Madison pushed so hard to get the U.S. Constitution ratified in 1788 to stop the influence of foreign nations. I mean, the guy “gifted” John Jay a horse for his family (Jay was clever enough to understand the game and accepted the “gift” but didn’t bite). The ambassador all but encouraged the “free state of Franklin” to secede from the trying-to-unite colonies, but the territory of Franklin swore allegiance to the state of North Carolina in 1789. Despite all of that, he did send many Spanish troops and guns (particularly to Havana, Cuba) during the Revolution to keep the British fleets occupied down in the Gulf of Mexico. If this hadn’t been done, the British Navy would’ve been in full force up and down the Atlantic Seaboard from 1776–1781). This is why this man is called “A Hero of the Revolution, Schemer Against The Republic.” (The guy even was at the inauguration of George Washington in 1789 in New York City). Who was he?
A. Diego de Guardoqui
B. Diego de Garcia
C. Diego de Cervantes
10. Speaking of the Spanish, if it hadn’t been for this general, the British might very well have won the American Revolution. This young general made sure to supply the colonial troops arms and uniforms up the Mississippi River and essentially opened a second front the British had to fight in the Gulf of Mexico. He took his army of free blacks, Germans, Acadians, etc., and marched on Baton Rouge, La., then to Mobile Bay, Ala., and finally to Pensacola, Fla., winning there in May 1781. After Pensacola, the British left Florida and never came back. He ended up being a part of the Treaty of Paris in 1783 that formally ended the Revolution War. The young man was made vice-regent of New Spain, but he ended up dying of yellow fever in Mexico City in 1786 at age 40. The U.S. Congress passed a resolution honoring this man for his service to the American cause in 1783 – but it got lost. More than 231 years later, the resolution was discovered, and Congress finally gave him honorary American citizenship in 2014. His picture was hung in the Capitol in 2016. Most people probably do not know that St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana and Galveston, Texas, were both named after him! Who was this amazing Spanish ally of the Americans during the war?
A. Bernardo de Florida
B. Bernardo de Galvez
11. In the Netherlands, this Dutch nobleman incurred the wrath of his country by giving loans to the American Revolutionaries again and again. The Dutch government really couldn’t afford to help finance the American Revolution, though the Stadtholders had no love for the British Empire. But this man decided to help, regardless. In fact, he led a group of people in the Netherlands during this time entitled the “Patriottentijd” (Time of the Patriots). He even published a pamphlet encouraging republicanism (against the corrupt Dutch oligarchy of the time) and for the American Revolution there in the Netherlands. He also helped John Adams secure financial aid from the Dutch (here’s a funny clip of this from the Adams miniseries). Who was this helpful Dutchman?
A. Joan Collins
B. Joan Jett
C. Joan Derk van der Capellan tot den Pol
12. Back in Britain, this Irishman kept calling for Britain to stop its warlike ways. He was part of the Rockingham Whig government (i.e. – the one that tried conciliation with America, but was replaced by the warlike one of Lord North and Lord George Germain – boo, hiss!) and who is generally considered the philosophical founder of modern conservatism. One of his most famous speeches, which he gave while being a Member of Parliament during the reign of King George III, was titled “Conciliation with America.” He later wrote about the French Revolution of 1789. Who was this friend of America and hugely important political philosopher?
A. Edmund Dantes
B. Edmund Burke
C. Edmund Fitzgerald
13. Speaking of Irishman, this obscure man (who accidentally invented the US dollar sign $) helped the American cause in an often-forgotten theater: the War in the West. This Irishman was the sole financier of the American Revolution operating out of New Orleans (which was then French colonial territory). He was the one who convinced the gentleman in #10 to support the American Revolution via the Spanish side, even personally supplying men and arms for operations against British forts in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. But he went bankrupt and ended up in a Havana prison in Cuba after the war. He was bailed out, however, and, in 1791, the U.S. Congress essentially “wrote off” his debts. He moved to Cumberland County, Pa., and ran for Congress three times, losing each time. He moved with his daughter to Mississippi and there died in 1823. Who was this fascinating Irish financier of the western part of the American Revolution?
A. Oliver Wolcott
B. Andrew Pollack
C. Oliver Pollock
14. This gentleman was so emphatic about the American position, he dressed in the colors (buff and blue) of George Washington’s army in the British House of Commons during the war. He entered the House of Commons in 1768 as a Whig (really, his seat was bought by his father). He was an arch-rival of Lord North as well as future Prime Minister William Pitt (the Younger). He absolutely detested King George III and corresponded openly with both Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson during the war. Whenever the American Continental Army would win on the battlefield, this gentleman would usually cheer on the victory in the British Parliament! He ended up being in a coalition government in 1783 with Lord North just to get the Treaty of Paris through to formally end the war. He was gregarious and friendly and loved by his constituents, who called him “Man of the People.” He died in 1806 and is buried in Westminster Abbey next to his arch-rival. He wasn’t perfect; he led a scandalous personal life. Who was this fascinating man and friend of America in the British House of Commons?
A. Charles James Willoughby
B. Charles James Burke
C. Charles James Fox
15. Believe it or not, a former Prime Minister of Britain spoke out for the colonies during the Revolution, and in Parliament itself. His son became the equally successful Prime Minister of Britain during a portion of the Napoleonic Wars. He already showed an independent frame of mind calling for the end of the Stamp Act in 1766 in Parliament (it was repealed that year). As a member of the House of Lords, he made this remarkable statement on Nov. 18, 1777:
“I know that the conquest of English America is an impossibility. ... You may swell every expense, and every effort, still more extravagantly; pile and accumulate every assistance you can buy or borrow; traffic and barter with every little pitiful German Prince, that sells and sends his subjects to the shambles of a foreign country; your efforts are for ever vain and impotent—doubly so from this mercenary aid on which you rely; for it irritates, to an incurable resentment, the minds of your enemies—to overrun them with the sordid sons of rapine and plunder; devoting them and their possessions to the rapacity of hireling cruelty! If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country, I never would lay down my arms, never! never! never!”
Who was this man who was called “The Great Commoner” Prime Minister of Britain (because he kept refusing a title up until 1766) who advocated so well for the Americans during the Revolutionary War?
A. William Pitt The Elder
B. William Pitt The Younger
C. Horace Walpole
16. This Scotsman was a surgeon and good friend of George Washington (played by actor Roger Rees in The Crossing). He originally fought for the deposed King of Scotland, James II, at the Battle of Culloden in 1746 (fans of the Starz series “Outlander” know all about this battle). He came to Pennsylvania in 1746 and joined the Pennsylvania militia as a medic (then a doctor) at the beginning of the French and Indian War in 1755. He was wounded horribly in a skirmish with the Delaware tribe and may have hidden from his pursuers in a tree. He then moved to Virginia and was made a colonel of the Virginia Militia. He was with Washington during the crossing of the Delaware at Trenton on Christmas 1776 and helped plan the Battle of Princeton on Jan. 3, 1777. Sadly, this Scottish patriot took seven bayonets to his body in the battle, finally dying on Jan. 12. What’s amazing, also, is his lineage. One grandson became a governor of Virginia; a great-great-great-grandson was a famous American lyricist, Johnny Mercer; and another great-great-great-grandson was none other than “Old Blood and Guts” himself of World War II fame: Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.! Who was this Scottish-turned-American patriot?
A. Hugh Laurie
B. Hugh Peabody
C. Hugh Mercer
17. Let’s not forget our Native American allies during the American Revolution. Names to remember include Jacob Alowistansis and Han Yerry. Yerry’s wife, Two Kettles, helped her husband in much the same way as Mary Ludwig Hays (“Molly Pitcher”) did hers. These names, and many others, are from a Native American tribe in upstate New York that exists to this day. They were greatly helpful to us in the American Revolution (particularly at the Battles of Oriskany and Barren Hill), so much so that George Washington himself signed an official document in 1794, the Treaty of Canandaigua, thanking them for their help in the American Revolution. There’s a town in South Dakota named after them (started by settlers from the town in New York state named after the tribe). Name the tribe that was one of our main Native allies during the American Revolution.
A. Huron
B. Oneida
C. Iroquois
18. The Poles have been with us in every major war, from the American Revolution onward. One general who fought with us in the Revolution, and who actually died in this country at the siege of Savannah, is known as the “father of American cavalry.” In 1824, when Lafayette visited the United States, he went to Savannah to lay the cornerstone of a monument honoring his Polish compatriot’s name. There’s a fort named after him, and he even has a statue in Washington, D.C. in Freedom Plaza. Every year in Grand Rapids, Mich., they have an entire week honoring this man (along with the requisite food, drinks and fun). He, too, is one of only eight people who have honorary U.S. citizenship. Who was this flamboyant Polish general who fought for our country and gave his life for it?
A. Casimir Pulaski
B. Casimir Kosciuszko
C. Casimir Ryblinski
19. Another Pole that you should know about really took our Revolution to heart and fought with us for seven years (and wasn’t paid until after the war). An engineer, he spent two years fortifying West Point against that traitor Benedict Arnold. He helped get the Continentals to prudently withdraw when Gen. Burgoyne besieged Ticonderoga in 1777. He later transferred to the Southern theater of the war, helping with several key battles, including the final military action in the East, the battle of Dill’s Bluff (James Island) in 1782. After the war, he supervised the fireworks for Princeton, N.J., for July 4, 1783. He was promoted to brigadier-general but decided that his home country needed a revolution against Russia. He won all of the battles, but the King of Poland, Stanislaw, acceded to Russia’s demands, and this man was put in prison. He was pardoned by Catherine the Great and eventually returned to the United States in 1797. He made Thomas Jefferson the executor of his will, with the proceeds of his estate to be sold to purchase freedom for American slaves, including Jefferson’s own, and to pay for their education. The Alien & Sedition Acts convinced him he’d best not stay long in the United States. He went back to Europe after learning that his nephews were conscripted to fight for Napoleon (whom he did not like or trust). Eventually, Napoleon fell, and Russian Czar Alexander I was going to set this man up as a kind of Russian vassal “Duke” of Poland, but he refused. He emancipated his remaining servants and died in October 1817. Named after him in the United States are several towns and counties, an island in Alaska and a park, and statues of him are in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Who was this amazing Polish patriot, of whom Jefferson said, “He is as pure a son of liberty as I have ever known.”
A. Thaddeus Popieluszko
B. Thaddeus Kosciuszko
C. Thaddeus Pulaski
20. It’s sad that most do not know of this Polish-American Jew who was called “the financier of the American Revolution.” Born in 1740 in Leszno, Poland, he traveled around Western Europe, gaining a good knowledge of international finance. He immigrated to New York City in 1775 and became a member of the Sons of Liberty in 1776. He was even arrested for being a spy – which, in fairness, he was. In fact, he was re-arrested in 1778 by the British and sentenced for execution, but he escaped! But his main contribution was financing the Revolution, mainly by converting French government loans into cash by selling bills of exchange to Robert Morris, the colonists’ superintendent of finance. Had it not been for this man, the Americans wouldn’t have made it to Yorktown. Although he had already procured $650,000 ($20 million in 2023 dollars) for the war effort, he raised $20,000 on his own for Gen. Washington to march to Yorktown. In 1784, he endured the antisemitic slanders of some in America with this line: “I am a Jew; it is my own nation; I do not despair that we shall obtain every other privilege that we aspire to enjoy along with our fellow-citizens.” This selfless man dedicated much of his fortune to the Continental Army, and he and his family were left penniless and in debt when he died in 1785 at age 44. This is why there was a gold medal struck for him by Congress in 1893, statues of him in California and Chicago, and a WWII Liberty ship named after him. Claude Rains portrayed him in the 1939 film Sons of Liberty. A U.S. Postal Service stamp commemorated him in 1975. Who was this amazing Polish-Jewish man who sacrificed so much for our country during the Revolution?
A. Haym Salomon
B. Haym Potok
C. Haym Isaac
Bonus questions:
1. The 250th anniversary of the first two major battles that began the American Revolution will be commemorated on April 19, 2025. Which two battles were these?
A. Lexington and Bunker Hill
B. Concord and Bunker Hill
C. Lexington and Concord
2. On Dec. 16, 2023, the 250th anniversary of this event (in Boston) was commemorated. Let’s just say that there’s a reason why coffee is the national drink in the United States and not this beverage. What was the name of this famous (or infamous, if you were a stockholder of the British East India Company) event in American history?
A. (You should know this already, folks.) – The Boston Tea Party.
3. Since both the United States and South Dakota are both getting ready to commemorate our country’s 250th anniversary, who is the current South Dakota State Historian who’s helping to coordinate these efforts in the state in the run-up to July 4, 2026?
A. Dr. Edwin Jones
B. Dr. Ben Jones
C. Dr. Davey Jones
P.S. – The Answer in Bonus Question 3 has a bi-monthly historical podcast known as History 605, and it’s fascinating to listen to interesting aspects of South Dakota history.
Sources: American Battle Field Trust (www.battlefields.org, and Youtube page of the same), www.youtube.com, www.allthingsliberty.com (Journal of the American Revolution, Wikipedia, the various NPS (National Park Service) sites, www.history.com, www.britannica.com, and a plethora of others.
Answers: (1) B; (2) A; (3) C; (4) Gilbert Du Motier, Marquis de Lafeyette; (5) C; (6) C; (7) C; (8) B: (9) A; (10) B; (11) C; (12) B: (13) C; (14) C; (15) A: (16) C; (17) B; (18) A; (19) B: (20) A
Bonus Question Answers: (1) C; (2) A; (3) B
 | A guest post by
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Hmm. Thanks, I think. Following up the threads that seem most interesting in this post just filled up my schedule for the next month.
I have decided: yes, thanks for poking my curiosity.
Worth remembering (and frankly learning about) the importance of allies in the founding of our country, especially when some talk so casually about abandoning NATO.