Captain Hans Christoph Friedrich Ignatz Ludwig von Closen-Haydenburg of the French Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment came to America with Rochambeau's expeditionary force in 1780 and became aide-de-camp to the general. He spoke French, German, and some English. He had an observant eye, a steady pen, and the habit of writing down what he saw — and what he wrote became one of the most valuable European primary sources on the American war. His diary describes the Continental Army's appearance at Yorktown ("wearing nothing but rags, half are barefoot, but they are still cheerful and full of spirit"), the southern landscape, the French line of march, and — in a passage that has become widely quoted — the predominantly Black 1st Rhode Island Regiment: "three-quarters of the Rhode Island regiment consists of Negroes, and that regiment is the most neatly dressed, the best under arms, and the most precise in its maneuvers." Von Closen survived the war, returned to Europe, and spent his later years editing the journal that this figure quietly commemorates.

This figure depicts von Closen in the 1779 ordonnance dress of the Royal Deux-Ponts: dark blue coat with yellow facings, cuffs, and lapels (the regiment's distinctive colors), white cross-belt and waistcoat, white breeches, black knee gaiters, the bicorne hat with white plume and green decoration. He carries his sword at his side in the at-ease position. The Royal Deux-Ponts was a French regiment of German speakers from the Palatinate, originally raised in Zweibrücken (literally "two bridges" — the French name "Deux-Ponts" is the direct translation). At Yorktown the regiment took Redoubt #9 on the night of October 14, 1781, paralleling Alexander Hamilton's American assault on Redoubt #10 the same hour. He pairs with General Rochambeau 1783 (his commanding general) and Marquis de Lafayette 1783 (the other half of the French command in America).

1/30 scale (60mm), matte-painted, single figure boxed. Catalog number 16186. As with the rest of the W. Britain modern range, the painting is photographic-quality detail intended to read well in dioramas and display cases.