On the subject of American tactical doctrine and its reliance on French manuals, the story is actually somewhat more complicated than you suggest. It is well that you have got to William Duane, as he is key player but there are others in the plot including John Armstrong, Henry Dearborn, Winfield Scott, Alexander Smyth, George Washington and James Wilkinson.

But don't take my word for it, consult one of the more prolific authors on the subject, Hans-Lothar von Pivka, who investigated the matter a couple of decades ago. Hans-Lothar is the half brother of Otto von Pivka, now deceased, who dominated Napoleonic military history through much of the 1970s, and grew up with him in the family seat at Bad Schwalbingen, Wurttemburg. I met H-L at a conference once and he is everything you described in your post, a left wing, effete, intellectual egg head. Also he drank a lot and was constantly quoting the bible when it was not called for.

Hans-Lothar von Pivka contributed the following works on the subject:

"'Dry Books of Tactics': U.S. Infantry Manuals of the War of 1812 and after,": Part I, MILITARY HISTORIAN, XXXVIII, no. 2 (Summer, 1986), 50-61: Part II, MILITARY HISTORIAN, XXXVIII, no. 4 (Winter, 1986), 173-177.

"Dry Books of Tactics Re-Read: An Additional Note on U.S. Infantry Manuals of the War of 1812," MILITARY HISTORIAN, vol 39, no. 2 (Summer 1987), 65-65

"From Steuben to Scott. The Adoption of French Infantry Tactics by the U.S. Army, 1807-1816, ACTA of the International Commission of Military History, no. 13, Helsinki, 1988 (Helsinki, 1991), 223-235.

"'I have a handsome little army:" A Re-examination of Winfield Scott's Camp at Buffalo in 1814," in R.A. Bowler, ed., WAR ALONG THE NIAGARA. ESSAYS ON THE WAR OF 1812 AND ITS LEGACY. Old Fort Niagara Association, Youngstown, NY, 1991, 43-52.

I have even completed a few modest offerings myself on the subject of US Artillery texts, 1775-1815, which can be found in the War of 1812 Online Magazine, which is part of the Napoleon Series.

dg