Memoirs, Correspondence and Manuscripts of General Lafayette by Lafayette

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(1776.) When I first learnt the subject of the quarrel, my heart
espoused warmly the cause of liberty, and I thought of nothing but of
adding also the aid of my banner.~[7] Some circumstances, which it
would be needless to relate, had taught me to expect only obstacles in
this case from my own family; I depended, therefore, solely upon
myself, and I ventured to adopt for a device on my arms these
words--"_Cur non?_" that they might equally serve as an encouragement
to my-self, and as a reply to others. Silas Deane was then at Paris;
but the ministers feared to receive him, and his voice was overpowered
by the louder accents of Lord Stormont. He despatched privately to
America some old arms, which were of little use, and some young
officers, who did but little good, the whole directed by M. de
Beaumarchais; and when the English ambassador spoke to our court, it
denied having sent any cargoes, ordered those that were preparing to
be discharged, and dismissed from our ports all American privateers.
Whilst wishing to address myself in a direct manner to Mr. Deane, I
became the friend of Kalb, a German in our employ, who was applying
for service with the _insurgents_, (the expression in use at that
time,) and who became my interpreter. He was the person sent by M. de
Choiseul to examine the English colonies; and on his return he
received some money, but never succeeded in obtaining an audience, so
little did that minister in reality think of the revolution whose
retrograde movements some persons have inscribed to him! When I
presented to Mr. Deane my boyish face, (for I was scarcely nineteen
years of age,) I spoke more of my ardour in the cause than of my
experience; but I dwelt much upon the effect my departure would excite
in France, and he signed our mutual agreement. The secrecy with which
this negotiation and my preparations were made appears almost a
miracle; family, friends, ministers; French spies and English spies,
all were kept completely in the dark as to my intentions. Amongst my
discreet confidants, I owe much to M. du Boismartin,~[8] secretary of
the Count de Broglie, and to the Count de Broglie himself, whose
affectionate heart, when all his efforts to turn me from this project
had proved in vain, entered into my views with even paternal
tenderness.

Preparations were making to send a vessel to America, when very bad
tidings arrived from thence. New York, Long Island, White Plains, Fort
Washington, and the Jerseys, had seen the American forces successively
destroyed by thirty-three thousand Englishmen or Germans. Three
thousand Americans alone remained in arms, and these were closely
pursued by General Howe. From that moment all the credit of the
insurgents vanished; to obtain a vessel for them was impossible: the
envoys themselves thought it right to express to me their own
discouragement, and persuade me to abandon my project. I called upon
Mr. Deane, and I thanked him for his frankness.

"Until now, sir," said I, "you have only seen my ardour in your cause,
and that may not prove at present wholly useless. I shall purchase a
ship to carry out your officers; we must feel confidence in the
future, and it is especially in the hour of danger that I wish to
share your fortune."~[9] My project was received with approbation; but
it was necessary afterwards to find money, and to purchase and arm a
vessel secretly: all this was accomplished with the greatest despatch.

The period was, however, approaching, which had been long fixed for my
taking a journey to England;~[10] I could not refuse to go without
risking the discovery of my secret, and by consenting to take this
journey I knew I could better conceal my preparations for a greater
one. This last measure was also thought most expedient by MM. Franklin
and Deane; for the doctor himself was then in France; and although I
did not venture to go to his house, for fear of being seen, I
corresponded with him through M. Carmichael, an American less
generally known. I arrived in London with M. de Poix; and I first paid
my respects to Bancroft, the American, and afterwards to his British
Majesty. A youth of nineteen may be, perhaps, too fond of playing a
trick upon the king he is going to fight with,--of dancing at the
house of Lord Germaine minister for the English colonies, and at the
house of Lord Rawdon, who had just returned from New York,--and of
seeing at the opera that Clinton, whom he was afterwards to meet at
Monmouth. But whilst I concealed my intentions, I openly avowed my
sentiments; I often defended the Americans; I rejoiced at their
success at Trenton; and my spirit of opposition obtained for me an
invitation to breakfast with Lord Shelbourne. I refused the offers
made me to visit the sea ports, the vessels fitting out against the
_rebels_, and everything that might be construed into an abuse of
confidence. At the end of three weeks, when it became necessary for me
to return home, whilst refusing my uncle,~[11] the ambassador, to
accompany him to court, I confided to him my strong desire to take a
trip to Paris. He proposed saying that I was ill during my absence. I
should not have made use of this stratagem myself, but I did not
object to his doing so.

After having suffered dreadfully in the channel, and being reminded,
as a consolation, how very short the voyage would be, I arrived at M.
de Kalb's house in Paris, concealed myself three days at Chaillot, saw
a few of my friends and some Americans, and set out for Bordeaux,
where I was for some time unexpectedly delayed.~[12] I took advantage
of that delay to send to Paris, from whence the intelligence I
received was by no means encouraging; but as my messenger was followed
on his road by one from the government, I lost not a moment in setting
sail, and the orders of my sovereign were only able to overtake me at
Passage, a Spanish port, at which we stopped on our way. The letters
from my own family were extremely violent, and those from the
government were peremptory. I was forbidden to proceed to the American
continent under the penalty of disobedience; I was enjoined to repair
instantly to Marseilles, and await there further orders. A sufficient
number of commentaries were not wanting upon the consequences of such
an anathema, the laws of the state, and the power and displeasure of
the government: but the grief of his wife, who was pregnant, and the
thoughts of his family and friends, had far more effect upon M. de
Lafayette.~[13] As his vessel could no longer be stopped, he returned
to Bordeaux to enter into a justification of his own conduct; and, in
a declaration to M. de Fumel, he took upon himself all the
consequences of his present evasion. As the court did not deign to
relax in its determination, he wrote to M. de Maurepas that that
silence was a tacit consent, and his own departure took place soon
after that joking despatch. After having set out on the road to
Marseilles, he retraced his steps, and, disguised as a courier, he had
almost escaped all danger, when, at Saint Jean de Luz, a young girl
recognised him; but a sign from him silenced her, and her adroit
fidelity turned away all suspicion. It was thus that M. de Lafayette
rejoined his ship, the 26th of April 1777; and on that same day, after
six months anxiety and labour, he set sail for the American
continent.~[14]

* * * * *

(1777.) As soon as M. de Lafayette had recovered from the effects of
sea sickness, he studied the language and trade he was adopting. A
heavy ship, two bad cannons, and some guns, could not have escaped
from the smallest privateer. In his present situation, he resolved
rather to blow up the vessel than to surrender; he concerted measures
to achieve this end with a brave Dutchman named Bedaulx, whose sole
alternative, if taken, would have been the gibbet. The captain
insisted upon stopping at the islands; but government and orders would
have been found there, and he followed a direct course, less from
choice than from compulsion.~[15] At forty leagues from shore, they
were met by a small vessel: the captain turned pale, but the crew were
attached to M. de Lafatette, and the officers were numerous: they made
a show of resistance. It turned out, fortunately, to be an American
ship, whom they vainly endeavoured to keep up with; but scarcely had
the former lost sight of M. de Lafayette's vessel, when it fell in
with two English frigates,--and this is not the only time when the
elements seemed bent on opposing M. de Lafayette, as if with the
intention of saving him. After having encountered for seven weeks
various perils and chances, he arrived at Georgetown, in Carolina.
Ascending the river in a canoe, his foot touched at length the
American soil, and he swore that he would conquer or perish in that
cause. Landing at midnight at Major Huger's house,~[16] he found a
vessel sailing for France, which appeared only waiting for his
letters. Several of the officers landed, others remained on board, and
all hastened to proceed to Charleston:

This beautiful city is worthy of its inhabitants and everything there
announced not only comfort but even luxury. Without knowing much of M.
de Lafayette, the generals Howe,~[17] Moultrie, and Gulden, received
him with the utmost kindness and attention. The new works were shown
him, and also that battery which Moultrie afterwards defended so
extremely well, and which the English appear, we must acknowledge, to
have seized the only possible means of destroying. Several
adventurers, the refuse of the islands, endeavoured vainly to unite
themselves to M. de Lafayette, and to infuse into his mind their own
feelings and prejudices. Having procured horses, he set out with six
officers for Philadelphia. His vessel had arrived, but it was no
longer protected by fortune, and on its return home it was lost on the
bar of Charlestown To repair to the congress of the United States, M.
de Lafayette rode nearly nine hundred miles on horseback; before
reaching the capital of Pennsylvania, he was obliged to travel through
the two Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware. Whilst studying
the language and customs of the inhabitants, he observed also new
productions of nature, and new methods of cultivation: vast forests
and immense rivers combine to give to that country an appearance of
youth and majesty. After a fatiguing journey of one month, he beheld
at length that Philadelphia, so well known in the present day, and
whose future grandeur Penn appeared to designate when he laid the
first stone of its foundation.

After having accomplished his noble manoeuvres at Trenton and
Princetown, General Washington had remained in his camp at
Middlebrook. The English, finding themselves frustrated in their first
hopes, combined to make a decisive campaign. Burgoyne was already
advancing with ten thousand men, preceded by his proclamations and his
savages. Ticonderoga, a famous stand of arms, was abandoned by
Saint-Clair; he drew upon himself much public odium by this deed, but
he saved the only corps whom the militia could rally round. Whilst the
generals were busied assembling the militia, the congress recalled
them, sent Gates their place, and used all possible means to support
him. At that same time the great English army, of about eighteen
thousand men, had sailed from New York, and the two Howes were uniting
their forces for a secret enterprise; Rhode Island was occupied by a
hostile corps, and General Clinton who had remained at New York, was
there preparing for an expedition. To be able to withstand many
various blows, General Washington, leaving Putnam on the north river,
crossed over the Delaware, and encamped, with eleven thousand men,
within reach of Philadelphia.

It was under these circumstances that M. de Lafayette first arrived in
America; but the moment, although important to the common cause, was
peculiarly unfavourable to strangers. The Americans were displeased
with the pretensions, and disgusted with the conduct, of many
Frenchmen; the imprudent selections they had in some cases made, the
extreme boldness of some foreign adventurers, the jealousy of the
army, and strong national prejudices, all contributed to confound
disinterested zeal with private ambition, and talents with quackery.
Supported by the promises which had been given by Mr. Deane, a
numerous band of foreigners besieged the congress; their chief was a
clever but very imprudent man, and although a good officer, his
excessive vanity amounted almost to madness. With M. de Lafayette, Mr.
Deane had sent out a fresh detachment, and every day such crowds
arrived, that the congress had finally adopted the plan of not
listening to any stranger. The coldness with which M. de Lafayette was
received, might have been taken as a dismissal; but, without appearing
disconcerted by the manner in which the deputies addressed him,~[18]
he entreated them to return to congress, and read the following
note:--

"After the sacrifices I have made, I have the right to exact two
favours: one is, to serve at my own expense,--the other is, to serve
at first as volunteer."

This style, to which they were so little accustomed, awakened their
attention; the despatches from the envoys were read over, and, in a
very flattering resolution, the rank of major-general was granted to
M. de Lafayette. Amongst the various officers who accompanied him,
several were strangers to him; he was interested, however, for them
all, and to those whose services were not accepted an indemnity for
their trouble was granted. Some months afterwards, M.----- drowned
himself in the Schuylkill, and the loss of that impetuous and
imprudent man was perhaps a fortunate circumstance.

The two Howes having appeared before the capes of the Delaware,
General Washington came to Philadelphia, and M. de Lafayette beheld
for the first time that great man.~[19] Although he was surrounded by
officers and citizens, it was impossible to mistake for a moment his
majestic figure and deportment; nor was he less distinguished by the
noble affability of his manner. M. de Lafayette accompanied him in his
examination of the fortifications. Invited by the General to establish
himself in his house, he looked upon it from that moment as his own:
with this perfect ease and simplicity, was formed the tie that united
two friends, whose confidence and attachment were to be cemented by
the strongest interests of humanity.~[20]

The American army, stationed some miles from Philadelphia, was waiting
until the movements the hostile army should be decided: the General
himself reviewed the troops; M. de Lafayette arrived there the same
day. About eleven thousand men, ill armed, and still worse clothed,
presented a strange spectacle to the eye of the young Frenchman: their
clothes were parti-coloured, and many of them were almost naked; the
best clad wore _hunting shirts_, large grey linen coats which were
much used in Carolina. As to their military tactics, it will be
sufficient to say that, for a regiment ranged in order of battle to
move forward on the right of its line, it was necessary for the left
to make a continued counter march. They were always arranged in two
lines, the smallest men in the first line; no other distinction as to
height was ever observed. In spite of these disadvantages, the
soldiers were fine, and the officers zealous; virtue stood in place of
science, and each day added both to experience and discipline. Lord
Stirling, more courageous than judicious, another general, who was
often intoxicated, and Greene, whose talents were only then known to
his immediate friends, commanded as majors-general. General Knox, who
had changed the profession of bookseller to that of artillery officer,
was there also, and had himself formed other officers, and created an
artillery. "We must feel embarrassed," said General Washington, on his
arrival, "to exhibit ourselves before an officer who has just quitted
French troops." "It is to learn, and not to teach, that I come
hither," replied M. de Lafayette; and that modest tone, which was not
common in Europeans, produced a very good effect.

After having menaced the Delaware, the English fleet again
disappeared, and during some days the Americans amused themselves by
making jokes at its expense. These jokes, however, ceased when it
reappeared in the Chesapeak; and, in order to approach it more closely
during the disembarkation, the patriot army crossed through the town.
Their heads covered with green branches, and marching to the sound of
drums and fifes, these soldiers, in spite of their state of nudity,
offered an agreeable spectacle to the eyes of all the citizens.
General Washington was marching at their head, and M. de Lafayette was
by his side. The army stationed itself upon the heights of Wilmington,
and that of the enemy landed in the Elk river, at the bottom of
Chesapeak bay. The very day they landed, General Washington exposed
himself to danger in the most imprudent manner; after having
reconnoitred for a long time the enemy's position, he was overtaken by
a storm during a very dark night, entered a farm house close to the
hostile army, and, from a reluctance to change his own opinion,
remained there with General Greene, M. de Lafayette, and their
aide-de-camp; but when at day break he quitted the farm, he
acknowledged that any one traitor might have caused his ruin. Some
days later, Sullivan's division joined the army, which augmented it in
all to thirteen thousand men. This Major-General Sullivan made a good
beginning, but a bad ending, in an intended surprise on Staten Island.

If, by making too extensive a plan of attack, the English committed a
great error, it must also be acknowledged that the Americans were not
irreproachable in their manner of defence. Burgoyne, leading his army,
with their heads bent upon the ground, into woods from whence he could
not extricate them, dragged on, upon a single road, his numerous
cannons and rich military equipages. Certain of not being attacked
from behind, the Americans could dispute every step they took: this
kind of warfare attracted the militia, and Gates improved each day in
strength. Every tree sheltered a skilful rifleman, and the resources
offered by military tactics, and the talents even of their chiefs, had
become useless to the English. The corps left in New York could, it is
true, laugh at the corps of Putnam, but it was too feeble to succour
Burgoyne; and instead of being able to secure his triumph, its own
fate was even dependent upon his. During that time, Howe was only
thinking of Philadelphia, and it was at the expense of the northern
expedition that he was repairing thither by an enormous circuit. But,
on the other side, why were the English permitted to land so
tranquilly? Why was the moment allowed to pass when their army was
divided by the river Elk? Why in the south were so many false
movements and so much hesitation displayed? Because the Americans had
hitherto had combats but not battles; because, instead of harassing an
army and disputing hollows, they were obliged to protect an open city,
and manoeuvre in a plain, close to a hostile army, who, by attacking
them from behind, might completely ruin them. General Washington, had
he followed the advice of the people, would have enclosed his army in
a city, and thus have entrusted to one hazard the fate of America;
but, whilst refusing to commit such an act of folly, he was obliged to
make some sacrifice, and gratify the nation by a battle. Europe even
expected it; and although he had been created a dictator for six
months, the General thought he ought to submit everything to the
orders of congress, and to the deliberations of a council of war.

After having advanced as far as Wilmington, the general had detached a
thousand men under Maxwell, the most ancient brigadier in the army. At
the first march of the English, he was beaten by their advance guard
near Christiana Bridge. During that time the army took but an
indifferent station at Newport; they then removed a little south,
waited two days for the enemy, and, at the moment when these were
marching upon their right wing, a nocturnal council of war decided
that the army was to proceed to the Brandywine. The stream bearing
that name covered its front; the ford called Chad's Ford, placed
nearly in the centre, was defended by batteries. It was in that
scarcely examined station that, in obedience to a letter from
congress, the Americans awaited the battle. The evening of the 10th of
September, Howe advanced in two columns, and, by a very fine movement,
the left column (about 8000 men under Lord Cornwallis, with grenadiers
and guards) directed themselves towards the fords of Birmingham, three
miles on our right; the other column continued its road, and at about
nine o'clock in the morning it appeared on the other side of the
stream. The enemy was so near the skirts of the wood that it was
impossible to judge of his force some time was lost in a mutual
cannonading. General Washington walked along his two lines, and was
received with acclamations which seemed to promise him success. The
intelligence that was received of the movements of Cornwallis was both
confused and contradictory; owing to the conformity of name betwixt
two roads that were of equal length and parallel to each other, the
best officers were mistaken in their reports. The only musket shots
that had been fired were from Maxwell, who killed several of the
enemy, but was driven back upon the left of the American army, across
a ford by which he had before advanced. Three thousand militia had
been added to the army, but they were placed in the rear to guard some
still more distant militia, and took no part themselves in the action.
Such was the situation of the troops when they learnt the march of
Lord Cornwallis towards the scarcely known fords of Birmingham: they
then detached three divisions, forming about five thousand men, under
the generals Sullivan, Stirling, and Stephen. M. de Lafayette, as
volunteer, had always accompanied the general. The left wing remaining
in a state of tranquillity, and the right appearing fated to receive
all the heavy blows, he obtained permission to join Sullivan. At his
arrival, which seemed to inspirit the troops, he found that, the enemy
having crossed the ford, the corps of Sullivan had scarcely had time
to form itself on a line in front of a thinly-wooded forest. A few
moments after, Lord Cornwallis formed in the finest order: advancing
across the plain, his first line opened a brisk fire of musketry and
artillery; the Americans returned the fire, and did much injury to the
enemy; but their right and left wings having given way, the generals
and several officers joined the central division, in which were M. de
Lafayette and Stirling, and of which eight hundred men were commanded
in a most brilliant manner by Conway, an Irishman, in the service of
France. By separating that division from its two wings, and advancing
through an open plain, in which they lost many men, the enemy united
all their fire upon the centre: the confusion became extreme; and it
was whilst M. de Lafayette was rallying the troops that a ball passed
through his leg;--at that moment all those remaining on the field gave
way. M. de Lafayette was indebted to Gimat, his aide-de-camp, for the
happiness of getting upon his horse. General Washington arrived from a
distance with fresh troops; M. de Lafayette was preparing to join him,
when loss of blood obliged him to stop and have his wound bandaged; he
was even very near being taken. Fugitives, cannon, and baggage now
crowded without order into the road leading to Chester. The general
employed the remaining daylight in checking the enemy: some regiments
behaved extremely well but the disorder was complete. During that time
the ford of Chad was forced, the cannon taken and the Chester road
became the common retreat of the whole army. In the midst of that
dreadful confusion, and during the darkness of the night, it was
impossible to recover; but at Chester, twelve miles from the field of
battle, they met with a bridge which it was necessary to cross; M. de
Lafayette occupied himself in arresting the fugitives; some degree of
order was re-established; the generals and the commander-in-chief
arrived; and he had leisure to have his wound dressed.

It was thus, at twenty-six miles from Philadelphia, that the fate of
that town was decided, (11th September, 1777.) The inhabitants had
heard every cannon that was fired there; the two parties, assembled in
two distinct bands in all the squares and public places, had awaited
the event in silence. The last courier at length arrived, and the
friends of Liberty were thrown into consternation. The Americans had
lost from 1000 to 1200 men. Howe's army was composed of about 12,000
men; their losses had been so considerable that their surgeons and
those in the country, were found insufficient, and they requested the
American army to supply them with some for their prisoners. If the
enemy had marched to Derby, the army would have been cut up and
destroyed: they lost an all-important night; and this was perhaps
their greatest fault, during a war in which they committed so many
errors.

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