Talk:François Christophe de Kellermann

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Can any of you folks elaborate as to the statement that François de Kellermann took part in "Louis XV's Polish expedition of 1771"?

While France is known to have sent two prolific expeditions in the 18th century, the view I have mainly encountered is that their purpose was to measure whether Earth had a wider circumference around the equator or vertically (around the poles, so to speak.) These expeditions occurred prior to 1771.

So is this 1771 expedition mentioned in this article a military excurion of some sort that is not widely documented? Seemingly so, if Kellermann, a soldier, was promoted upon return (if this article entry is to be given creedence.)

Please provide a reference or footnote about sources as to the information presented. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bluto619 (talk • contribs) 00:50, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

Date of establishment of 'Duke of Valmy'?
Does anyone know of a definitive source for the date of Kellermann's ennoblement? I am inclined towards 1808 because it's given in the venerable survey The Bâton in the Knapsack (Currie, 1934), but a Google search does show some surprisingly wild variations: Surely some Napoleonic scholars out there have an authoritative modern source-? SteveStrummer (talk) 15:42, 31 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy, in The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World and Bentley's, gives the year as 1802;
 * Appleton's, Beeton's, Johnson's and Dublin University magazine give 1804;
 * Encyclopedia Britannica and Napoleon's Marshals (Richard P. Dunn-Pattinson) both give 1808;
 * New International Encyclopædia and Encyclopedia Americana give 1809;