Memoirs, Correspondence and Manuscripts of General Lafayette by Lafayette

L >> Lafayette >> Memoirs, Correspondence and Manuscripts of General Lafayette

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38

Produced by Stan Goodman, Marvin A. Hodges
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team

MEMOIRS

CORRESPONDENCE AND MANUSCRIPTS

OF

GENERAL LAFAYETTE

PUBLISHED BY HIS FAMILY.

Entered according to the act of Congress, in the year 1837,

by William A. Duer,

In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New-York.

Respectfully to collect and scrupulously to arrange the manuscripts of
which an irreparable misfortune has rendered them depositaries, have
been for the Family of General Lafayette the accomplishment of a
sacred duty.

To publish those manuscripts without any commentary, and place them,
unaltered, in the hands of the friends of Liberty, is a pious and
solemn homage which his children now offer with confidence to his
memory.

GEORGE WASHINGTON LAFAYETTE.

ADVERTISEMENT

OF THE AMERICAN EDITOR.

* * * * *

It was the desire of the late General Lafayette, that this edition of
his Memoirs and Correspondence should be considered as a legacy of the
American people. His representatives have accordingly pursued a course
which they conceived the best adapted to give effect to his wishes, by
furnishing a separate edition for this country, without any
reservation for their own advantage, beyond the transfer of the
copyright as an indemnity for the expense and risk of publication.

In this edition are inserted some letters which will not appear in the
editions published in Paris and London. They contain details relating
to the American Revolution, and render the present edition more
complete, or, at least, more interesting to Americans. Although
written during the first residence of General Lafayette in
America--when he was little accustomed to write in the English
language--the letters in question are given exactly as they came from
his pen--and as well as the others in the collection written by him in
that language are distinguished from those translated from the French
by having the word "Original" prefixed to them.

It was intended that these letters should have been arranged among
those in the body of the work; in the order of their respective dates;
but as the latter have been stereotyped before the former had been
transmitted to the American editor, this design was rendered
impracticable. They have therefore from necessity been added in a
supplemental form with the marginal notes which seemed requisite for
their explanation.

Columbia College, N. Y., July, 1837.

CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

AMERICAN REVOLUTION.

Notice by the Editors

FIRST VOYAGE AND FIRST CAMPAIGN IN AMERICA--1777, 1778.

Memoirs written by myself, until the year 1780

FRAGMENTS EXTRACTED FROM VARIOUS MANUSCRIPTS

A.--Departure for America in 1777

B.--First Interview between General Washington
and General Lafayette

C.--On the Military commands during the Winter of 1778

D.--Retreat of Barren Hill

E.--Arrival of the French Fleet

F.--Dissensions between the French Fleet
and the American Army

CORRESPONDENCE--1777, 1778:

To the Duke d'Ayen. London, March 9, 1777

To Madame de Lafayette. On board the Victory, May 30

To Madame de Lafayette. Charlestown, June 19

To Madame de Lafayette. Petersburg, July 17

To Madame de Lafayette.--July 23

To Madame de Lafayette. Philadelphia, Sept. 12

To Madame de Lafayette.--Oct. 1

To M. de Vergennes, Minister of Foreign affairs.
Whitemarsh Camp, Oct. 24

To Madame de Lafayette. Whitemarsh Camp, Oct. 29, and Nov. 6

To General Washington. Haddonfeld, Nov. 26

To the Duke d'Ayen. Camp Gulph, Pennsylvania, Dec. 16

To General Washington. Camp, Dec. 30

To General Washington. Head Quarters, Dec. 31

To General Washington. Valley Forge, Dec. 31

To Madame de Lafayette. Camp, near Valley Forge, Jan. 6, 1778

To General Washington

To Madame de Lafayette. York. Feb 3

To General Washington. Hermingtown, Feb. 9

To General Washington. Albany, Feb. 19

To General Washington.--Feb. 23

From General Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette.
Head Quarters, March 10

To Baron de Steuben. Albany, March 12

Fragment of a Letter to the President of Congress.
Albany, March 20

To General Washington. Albany, March 25

To Madame de Lafayette. Valley Forge Camp,
in Pennsylvania, April 14

To Madame de Lafayette. Germantown, April 28

To General Washington. Valley Forge Camp, May 19

From General Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette.
Camp, May 17

To the Marquis de Lafayette. (Instructions.)

To Madame de Lafayette. Valley Forge Camp, June 16

To the Marquis de Lafayette. (Instructions.)

To General Washington. Ice Town, June 26

From General Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette.
Cranberry, June 26

From General Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette.
White Plains, July 22

From General Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette.
Head Quarters, White Plains, July 27

To General Washington. Providence, Aug. 6

From General Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette.
White Plains, Aug. 10

To General Washington. Camp before Newport, Aug. 25

From General Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette.
White Plains, Sept.

From General Washington to Major-General Sullivan.
Head Quarters, White Plains, Sept. 1

From General Washington to Major-General Greene.
Head Quarters, White Plains, Sept. 1

To General Washington. Tyverton, Sept. I

To General Washington. Camp, near Bristol, Sept. 7

To the Duke d'Ayen. Bristol, near Rhode Island, Sept. 11

To Madame de Lafayette. Bristol, near Rhode Island, Sept. 13

President Laurens to the Marquis de Lafayette.
Philadelphia, Sept. 13

Marquis de Lafayette to President Laurens. Camp, Sept. 23

To General Washington. Warren, Sept. 24

From General Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette.
Fredericksburg, Sept. 25

To General Washington. Camp near Warren, Sept. 24

To General Washington. Boston, Sept. 28

From General Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette.
Fishkill, Oct. 4

Marquis de Lafayette to President Laurens.
Philadelphia, Oct. 13

President Laurens to the Marquis de Lafayette.
Philadelphia, Oct. 24

To General Washington. Philadelphia, Oct. 24

Lord Carlisle to M. de Lafayette Marquis de Lafayette

To President Laurens. Philadelphia, Oct. 26

Fragment of a Letter from the French Minister, M. Gerard,
to Count de Vergennes.--October

From General Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette.
Philadelphia, Dec. 29

From General Washington to General Franklin,
American Minister in France. Philadelphia, Dec. 28

To General Washington. Boston, January 5, 1779

To General Washington. On board the Alliance,
off Boston, January 11, 1779

SECOND VOYAGE TO AMERICA, AND CAMPAIGNS OF 1780, 1781.

HISTORICAL MEMOIRS OF 1779, 1780, and 1781.

CORRESPONDENCE--1779-1781

To Count de Vergennes. Paris, February 24, 1779

From General Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette.
Camp at Middlebrook, March 8

To M. de Vergennes, Paris, April 1, and April 26

To the President of Congress. St. Jean de Angeli,
near Rochefort, June 12

To General Washington. St. Jean de Angeli,
near Rochefort harbor, June 12

To the Count de Vergennes. Havre, July 30

To M. de Vergennes. Paris, August --

Dr. Franklin to the Marquis de Lafayette. Fassy, August 24

To Dr. Franklin. Havre, August 29

Page From General Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette.
West Point, December 30

To General Washington. Havre, October 7

To M. de Vergennes. Versailles, Feb. 22, 1780

To his Excellency General Washington.
At the entrance of Boston harbor, April 27

To M. de Vergennes. Waterburg, on the Boston road,
from the Camp, May 6

From General Washington. Morris Town, May--

To the Count de Rochambeau. Philadelphia, May 19

To General Washington. Camp at Preakness, July 4

To MM. le Comte de Rochambeau and le Chevalier de Ternay.
Camp before Dobb's Ferry, August 9

From Count de Rochambeau to M. de Lafayette. Newport, August 12

To MM. de Rochambeau and de Ternay. Camp, August 18

To M. de Rochambeau. Camp, August 18

From M. de Rochambeau. Newport, August 27

To the Chevalier de la Luzerne. Robinson House,
opposite West Point, Sept. 26

To Madame de Tesse. Camp, on the right side of North River,
near the Island of New York, October 4

To General Washington. Light Camp, October 30

From General Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette.
Head Quarters, October 30

To General Washington. Light Camp, November 13

To General Washington, Paramus, November 28

To his Excellency General Washington. Philadelphia, Dec. 5

From General Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette.
New Windsor, December 14

To M. de Vergennes. New Windsor, on the North River,
January 30, 1781

To Madame de Lafayette. New Windsor, on the North River,
February 2

To General Washington. Elk, March 8

To General Washington. On board the Dolphin, March 9

To General Washington. Williamsburg, March 23

From General Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette.
New Windsor, April 6

To General Washington. Elk, April 8

To Colonel Hamilton. Susquehannah Ferry, April 18

To General Washington. Baltimore, April 18

To General Washington. Alexandria, April 23

From General Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette
New Windsor, May 4

From General Washington to Lund Washington.
New Windsor, April 30

To General Washington. Camp Wilton, on James River, May 17

From General Phillips to the Marquis de Lafayette.
British Camp at Osborn, April 28

From General Phillips to the Marquis de Lafayette.
Camp at Osborn, April 29

To Major General Phillips. American Camp, April 30

To Major-General Phillips.--May 3

Note for Captain Emyne.--May 15

Note from General Arnold to Captain Ragedale

To General Washington. Richmond, May 24

To General Washington. Camp, June 28

Extracts of several Letters to General Washington

To Madame de Lafayette. Camp, between the branches
of York River, August 24

To M. de Vergennes. Camp between the branches
of York River, August 24

To M de Maurepas. Camp, between the branches
of York River, August 24

To General Washington. Holt's Forge, September 1

To General Washington. Williamsburg, September 8

To General Washington. Camp before York, October 16

To M. de Maurepas. Camp near York, October 20

To M. de Vergennes. Camp near York, October 20

To Madame de Lafayette. On board La Ville de Paris,
Chesapeake Bay, October 22

The Marquis de Segur to M. de Lafayette.--Dec. 5

To General Washington. Alliance, off Boston, December 21

ADDITIONAL CORRESPONDENCE.

To General Washington. Robins' Tavern, June 26, 1778

To General Washington. Cranbarry, June --

To General Washington.--June 28

To General Washington. Cranbarry, June 29

To the Count de Vergennes. St. Jean de Angeli, June, 1779

To the Count de Vergennes. Havre, July 9

To the President of Congress. Havre, October 7

To General Washington. Peekskill, July 20, 1780

To General Washington. Danbury, July 21

To General Washington. Hartford, July 22

To General Washington. Lebanon, July 23

To General Washington. Newport, July 26

To General Washington. Newport, July 26

To General Washington. Newport, July 29

To General Washington. Newport, July 31

To General Washington. Newport, August 1

To General Washington. Elizabethtown, October 27

To General Washington. Light Camp, October 27

To General Washington. Philadelphia, December 4

To General Washington.--December 5

To General Washington. Philadelphia, December 16

To General Washington. Philadelphia, March 2, 1781

To General Washington. Head of Elk, March 7

To General Washington. Off Turkey Point, March 9

To General Washington. York, March 15

To General Washington. Elk, April 10

To General Washington. Susquehannah Ferry, April 13

To General Washington. Susquehannah Ferry, April 13

To General Washington. Susquehannah Ferry, April 14

To Major-General Greene. Hanover Court House, April 28

To General Greene. Camp on Pamunkey River, May 3

To General Washington. Camp near Bottom's Creek, May 4

To General Washington. Richmond, May 8

To General Washington. Welton, north side of James River, May 18

To Colonel Hamilton. Richmond, May 23

To General Washington. Richmond, May 24

To General Washington. Camp between Rappanannock
and North Anna, June 3

To General Greene. Camp between Rappahannock
and North Anna, June 3

To General Greene. Allen's Creek, June 18

To General Greene. Mr. Tyter's Plantation, June 27

To General Greene. Ambler's Plantation, July 8

To General Washington. Mrs. Ruffin's, August 29

To General Washington. Holt's Forge, September 1

To General Washington. Camp Williamsburg, September 8

To General Washington. Williamsburg, September 10

To General Washington. Camp before York, Sept. 30

To General Washington.--November 29

APPENDIX.

I.--A Summary of the Campaign of 1781, explanatory of the Map

II.--Letter from M. de Lafayette to M. de Vergennes

NOTICE BY THE EDITORS.

Under the title of _Revolution of America_, are comprised eight years
of M. de Lafayette's life, from the commencement of 1771 until the end
of 1784. His three voyages to the United States divide those eight
years into three periods: 1777, 1778; 1779-1781; and 1782-1784.~[1]

1st. Circumstantial Memoirs, written for his friends after the peace
of Versailles, and which were to have extended to 1780, open this
collection.

2nd. These are continued and completed by two detached relations,
composed between 1800 and 1814; the first, which has no title, and
might be called _Notice of the American Life of General Lafayette_,
appears to have been written for a person intending to publish the
history of the war, or of General Washington; the second is entitled,
_Observations on some portion of American History, by a friend of
General Lafayette_.

As these two relations, both written by M. de Lafayette, and which we
designate under the names of Manuscript, No. 1, and manuscript, No. 2,
contain a second, and occasionally a third, account of events already
mentioned in the Memoirs, we have only inserted quotations from them.

3rd. A relation of the campaign in Virginia, in 1781, shall be
inserted in its complete state.

4th. Extracts from the collection of the general's speeches, begun by
him in 1829, will give some details of his third voyage to America
(1784).

5th. With the account of each particular period that portion of the
correspondence which may relate to it will be inserted. From a great
number of letters, written from America, and addressed either to
France or to America, or from France to America, those only have been
suppressed whose repetitions or details, purely military, would render
them uninteresting to the public.

6th. In the Correspondence, some letters have been inserted from
General Washington, and other contemporaries, and also some historical
records, of which M. de Lafayette had taken copies, or which have been
extracted from various collections published in the United States.

Footnote

1. M. de Lafayette (Marie-Paul-Joseph-Roch-Yves-Gilbert Motier) born
at Chavaniae, in Auvergne, the 6th of September, 1757; married the
11th of April, 1774; set out for America the 26th of April, 1777. The
other dates will be mentioned in proper order, with each particular
event. All the notes which are not followed by the name of M. de
Lafayette, may be attributed to the members of his family, sole
editors of this work.

* * * * *

TO THE READER.~[1]

When, devoted from early youth to the ambition of liberty, I beheld no
limit to the path that I had opened for myself, it appeared to me that
I was sufficiently fulfilling my destiny, and satisfying my glory, by
rushing incessantly forward, and leaving to others the care of
collecting the recollections, as well as the fruits, of my labour.

After having enjoyed an uninterrupted course of good fortune for
fifteen years, I presented myself, with a favourable prospect of
success, before the coalition of kings, and the aristocracy of Europe:
I was overthrown by the simultaneous fury of French jacobinism. My
person was then given up to the vengeance of my natural enemies, and
my reputation to the calumnies of those self-styled patriots who had
so lately violated every sworn and national guarantee. It is well
known that the regimen of my five years' imprisonment was not
favourable to literary occupations, and when, on my deliverance from
prison, I was advised to write an explanation of my conduct, I was
disgusted with all works of the kind, by the numerous memoirs or
notices by which so many persons had trespassed upon the attention of
the public. Events had also spoken for us; and many accusers, and many
accusations, had fallen into oblivion.

As soon as I returned to France, my friends requested me to write
memoirs: I found excuses for not doing so in my reluctance to judge
with severity the first jacobin chiefs who have shared since in my
proscription,--the _Girondins_, who have died for those very
principles they had opposed and persecuted in me,--the king and queen,
whose lamentable fate only allows me to pride myself upon some
services I have rendered them,--and the vanquished royalists, who are
at present deprived of fortune, and exposed to every, arbitrary
measure. I ought to add, likewise that, happy in my retreat, in the
bosom of my family and occupied with agricultural pursuits, I know not
how to purloin one moment from the enjoyments of my domestic life.

But my friends have renewed their request, and to comply in some
degree with it, I have consented to place in order the few papers that
I still possess and assemble together some relations which have been
already published, and unite, by notes, the whole collection, in which
my children and friends may one day find materials for a less
insignificant work. As to myself, I acknowledge that my indolence in
this respect is owing to the intimate conviction which I feel, that
liberty will ultimately be established in the old as well as in the
new world, and that then the history of our revolutions will put all
things and all persons in their proper places.

Footnote

1. Although this notice, written a short time after the 18th
_Brumaire_, be anterior to a great number of events, in the midst of
which General Lafayette continued his public life, we have placed it
in this part of the work, as a sort of general introduction to the
various materials it contains.

* * * * *

FIRST VOYAGE

AND

FIRST CAMPAIGN IN AMERICA 1777-1778.

MEMOIRS WRITTEN BY MYSELF,~[1]

UNTIL THE YEAR 1780.

TO MY FRIENDS.

If I were to confound, as is too often done, obstinacy with firmness,
I should blush at beginning these memoirs, after having so long
refused to do so, and at even increasing their apparent egotism by my
style, instead of sheltering myself under cover of the third person;
but I will not yield a half compliance to the request of that tender
friendship which is far more valuable to me than the ephemeral success
which a journal might obtain. It is sufficient for me to know that
this relation, intended for a few friends only, will never extend
beyond their circle: it even possesses two very great advantages over
many celebrated books: these are, that the public not being concerned
in this work it cannot need a preface, and that the dedication of
affection cannot require an epistle.

It would be too poetical to place myself at once in another
hemisphere, and too minute to dwell upon the particulars of my birth,
which soon followed the death of my father at Minden;~[2] of my
education in Auvergne, with tender and revered relations; of my
removal, at twelve years of age to a college at Paris,~[3] where I
soon lost my virtuous mother,~[4] and where the death of her father
rendered me rich, although I had been born, comparatively speaking,
poor; of some schoolboy successes, inspired by the love of glory and
somewhat disturbed by that of liberty; of my entrance into the
regiment of the black musketeers, which only interrupted my studies on
review days; and finally, of my marriage, at the age of sixteen,
preceded by a residence at the academy of Versailles.~[5] I have still
less to say relating to my entrance into the world; to the short
favour I enjoyed as constituting one member of a youthful society; to
some promises to the regiment de Noailles; and to the unfavourable
opinion entertained of me owing to my habitual silence when I did not
think the subjects discussing worthy of being canvassed. The bad
effects produced by disguised self-love and an observing disposition,
were not softened by a natural simplicity of manner, which, without
being improper on any great occasion, rendered it impossible for me to
bend to the graces of the court, or to the charms of a supper in the
capital.

You ask me at what period I first experienced my ardent love of
liberty and glory? I recollect no time of my life anterior to my
enthusiasm for anecdotes of glorious deeds, and to my projects of
travelling over the world to acquire fame. At eight years of age, my
heart beat when I heard of a hyena that had done some injury, and
caused still more alarm, in our neighbourhood, and the hope of meeting
it was the object of all my walks. When I arrived at college, nothing
ever interrupted my studies, except my ardent wish of studying without
restraint. I never deserved to be chastised; but, in spite of my usual
gentleness, it would have been dangerous to have attempted to do so;
and I recollect with pleasure that, when I was to described in
rhetoric a perfect courser, I sacrificed the hope of obtaining a
premium, and described the one who, on perceiving the whip, threw down
his rider. Republican anecdotes always delighted me, and when my new
connexions wished to obtain for me a place at court, I did not
hesitate displeasing them to preserve my independence.~[6] I was in
that frame of mind when I first learnt the troubles in America; they
only became thoroughly known in Europe in 1776, and the memorable
declaration of the 4th of July reached France at the close of that
same year.

After having crowned herself with laurels and enriched herself with
conquests; after having become mistress of all seas; and after having
insulted all nations, England had turned her pride against her own
colonies. North America had long been displeasing to her; she wished
to add new vexations to former injuries, and to destroy the most
sacred privileges. The Americans, attached to the mother country,
contented themselves at first with merely uttering complaints; they
only accused the ministry, and the whole nation rose up against them;
they were termed insolent and rebellious, and at length declared the
enemies of their country: thus did the obstinacy of the king, the
violence of the ministers, and the arrogance of the English nation,
oblige thirteen of their colonies to render themselves independent.
Such a glorious cause had never before attracted the attention of
mankind; it was the last struggle of Liberty; and had she then been
vanquished, neither hope nor asylum would have remained for her. The
oppressors and oppressed were to receive a powerful lesson; the great
work was to be accomplished, or the rights of humanity were to fall
beneath its ruin. The destiny of France and that of her rival were to
be decided at the same moment; England was to lose, with the new
states, an important commerce, of which she derived the sole
advantage,--one quarter of her subjects, who were constantly
augmenting by a rapid increase of population, and by emigration from
all parts of Europe,--in a word, more than half of the most beautiful
portion of the British territory. But if she retained possession of
her thirteen colonies, all was ended for our West Indies, our
possessions in Asia and Africa, our maritime commerce, and
consequently our navy and our political existence.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38