Memoirs, Correspondence and Manuscripts of General Lafayette by Lafayette

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All Europe wants to see you so much, my dear general, that you cannot
refuse them that pleasure. I have boldly affirmed that you will pay me
a visit after the peace is settled, so that if you deny me, you will
hurt your friend's reputation throughout the world.

I beg you will present my best compliments to your family, and remind
them of my tender affection for them all. Be so kind, also, to present
my compliments to the general officers, to all the officers of the
army, to every one, from the first major-general to the last soldier.

I most earnestly entreat you, my dear general, to let me hear from you.
Write me how you do, how things are going on. The minutest detail will
be infinitely interesting to me. Don't forget anything concerning
yourself, and be certain that any little event or observation
concerning you, however trifling it may appear, will have my warmest
attention and interest. Adieu, my dear general, I cannot lay down the
pen, and I enjoy the greatest pleasure in scribbling you this long
letter. Don't forget me, my dear general; be ever as affectionate to me
as you have been; these sentiments I deserve from the ardent ones which
fill my heart. With the highest respect, with the most sincere and
tender friendship that ever human heart has felt, I have the honour to
be, &c.

For God's sake write me frequent and long letters, and speak chiefly
about yourself and your private circumstances.

St. Jean, d'Angely, 13th June, 1779.

I Have just received, my dear general, an express from court, with
orders to repair immediately to Versailles. There I am to meet M. le
Comte de Vaux, Lieutenant-General, who is appointed to, the command of
the troops intended for an expedition. In that army I shall be employed
in the capacity of aide-marechal-general des logis, which is, in our
service, a very important and agreeable place; so that I shall serve in
the most pleasing manner, and shall be in a situation to know
everything and to render services. The necessity of setting off
immediately prevents my writing to General Greene, to the gentlemen of
your family, and other friends of mine in the army, whom I beg to
accept my excuses on account of this order, which I did not expect so
soon. Everything that happens you shall most certainly be acquainted of
by me, and I will for the moment finish my letter in assuring your
excellency again of my profound respect and tenderest friendship.
Farewell, my dear general, and let our mutual affection last for ever.

Footnote:

1. This conjecture was a just one: by the correspondence of General
Washington, who kept copies of all his letters, we perceive that he
often wrote to M. de Lafayette, whose letters, on the contrary, during
this voyage, consist but of two, because we have been able to find only
those that arrived in America.

TO THE COUNT DE VERGENNES.

Havre, 30th July, 1779.

Sir,--I have received the letter which you have had the goodness to
write to me, and in which you promise me another after having read to
M. de Maurepas the paper which I addressed to you.~[1] It is shewing me
a great favour to employ, in answering me, a part of your time, which
is so precious; and I remain in eager expectation of your second
letter. Being convinced that there is no time to lose in adopting the
measures which I propose, my love for my country makes me feel an
impatience, which I fear may pass for importunity; but you will excuse
a fault arising from a feeling which is dear to every good citizen.

The Prince de Montbarrey will give you, with regard to Havre, all the
information you may desire. You are certainly right in saying that my
blood is in fermentation. We hear nothing of M. d'Orvilliers. Some say
that he has gone to the Azores, to intercept the West Indian fleet, and
to join M. d'Estaing, who was to return here, as I was informed by
yourself and M. de Sartine; others affirm that he has gone to America.

The reasoning of the latter does not bring me over to their opinion;
and it is very probable that if our fleet had been sent, as they
suppose, I should not now be in Normandy. Be that as it may, you know,
I hope that any arrangement, and any station, will satisfy me, and that
I do not claim promotion, or assistance, or any mark of favour
whatsoever. If M. d'Orvilliers, or a detachment, is now in the
independent states of America, and my presence there can be in any way
more serviceable than here, I shall be very willing to go over in an
American frigate, which I will take on my own authority; and with the
very natural pretext of rejoining the army in which I served, I will go
and endeavour to use my influence for the advantage of my country.
Several persons say, also, that Spanish dollars have been sent to the
Americans; I earnestly hope it is so, as my last advices shew the
necessity for them.

If the project, for want of sufficient means, should not be adopted
this year, I deem it my duty to submit to you a proposition which would
in a great measure accomplish the same object.

While waiting until next year to commence combined operations with a
squadron, why might you not send to Boston three thousand, or even two
thousand men, with three hundred dragoons, who should be joined in the
spring by ships of war and a reinforcement of troops? This detachment
could be sent by two fifty gun ships, using one of the India Company's
ships for a transport, or Spanish vessels, if you prefer them. To avoid
expense, let them sail in company with the ships destined for the West
Indies, with the escort of the merchantmen, with the _Bonhomme
Richard_, and all the frigates at Lorient. These troops will be left in
America until the next campaign, and I will now mention what would be
the result of such a measure; it being well understood that the convoy
would proceed to the West Indies, or to any other destination, after
having landed the detachment. First, we should raise by our presence
the value of their paper money, an important point for French commerce;
secondly, we should be at hand to obtain information, and might take
such preliminary steps as would conduce, eventually, to our obtaining
possession of Halifax; thirdly, such a detachment would inspire, the
American army with new vigour, would powerfully support an attack for
retaking the forts on the north river, and would lead the Americans to
such undertakings as circumstances might render advisable.

You have told me to give you all my ideas. It is my duty to submit to
you this last one, which, as it seems to me, is not liable to any
objection. At first, I was afraid of expressing my opinion so strongly
as I was inclined to do, lest I should be suspected of peculiar motives
and predilections; but, now that people must know me better, and that
you have my entire confidence, I speak more freely, and I solemnly
affirm, upon my honour, that if half my fortune were spent in sending
succours of troops to the Americans, I should believe that, in so
doing, I rendered to my country a service more important than would be
to me this sacrifice.

You will say, perhaps, that it will be difficult to find subsistence
for the troops during the winter; but in paying in specie, we should
obtain provisions very cheap, and the additional number of mouths would
be very small in comparison to the population of the country.

Permit me, sir, to offer you the assurance of my attachment.

Footnote:

1. This letter, in the form of a memorial, and containing the plan of
an expedition to America, has been placed at the end of the
volume.--(See Appendix 2.)

TO M. DE VERGENNES.

Paris, Monday morning, August, 1779.

It is not, sir, to the king's minister that I am now writing, but my
confidence in your kindness makes me hope that I am addressing a man
whom I may safely call my friend, to whom I am merely giving an account
of all that is most interesting to me. You may confer a great
obligation upon me, (and render one perhaps to the public,) by
employing in a less useless manner the few talents a soldier may
possess, who has been hitherto rather fortunate in war, and who
supplies his want of knowledge by the purest ardour in the cause.

I have seen the Comte de Maurepas, and I told him what I have the
honour of communicating to you; he would not agree to the projects in
question, and was doubtless right, although my own opinion remains
unchanged; but he thinks that I, who was one of the first to speak of
the expedition with fifteen hundred or two thousand men, must now
command six hundred hussars, and that this change would be injurious to
me. He, perhaps, imagined, as some others have done, from kindness
towards me, that such a command would be beneath me. I ought not,
besides, he added, to exchange a certainty for an uncertainty.

To this I answer, in the first place, that from the extreme kindness of
the public towards me, nothing (I mean in relation to what passes in my
own heart) can ever be injurious to me; that my setting out with only
six hundred men would have been attributed to its real motive, and
therefore pardoned. In the second place, to suspect me of entering into
a calculation with my country, and of despising any means whatever of
serving her, would either prove a want of discernment or of memory; and
to the last objection, I reply, that the expedition of which I spoke to
you yesterday, is quite as certain as my own.

If the troops had remained in a state of inactivity, it would have been
very natural if my ardour had induced me to adopt the trade of a
corsair; nay, it would have been natural if I had set out in an armed
boat; but when an opportunity offers for employing on a grander scale
the talents of a man who has never exercised a soldier's trade but on a
wide field, it would be unfortunate for him to lose the power of
distinguishing himself, and rendering, perhaps, some important services
to his own country; and it would be injudicious in the government not
to put to the test that reputation which has been gained in foreign
service.

May I, sir, speak to you with frankness? What is most proper for me,
would be an advance guard of grenadiers and _chasseurs_, and a
detachment of the king's dragoons, making in all, from fifteen hundred
to two thousand men, to raise me above the line, and give me the power
of action. There are not many lieutenants-general, still fewer
field-marshals, and no brigadiers, who have had such important commands
confided to them as chance has given me. I also know the English, and
they know me--two important considerations during a war. The command I
wished for has even been given to a colonel.

It is said that M. de Maillebois, M. de Voyer, and M. de Melfort, will
be employed; I know then first and last of these gentlemen; M. de
Melfort is a field-marshal, and although I have exercised that trade
myself, I should be well pleased to be under his orders. I wish to be
chosen in the report of the army, not of the court; I do not belong to
the court, still less am I a courtier; and I beg the king's ministers
to look upon me as having belonged to a corps of the guards.

The Count de Maurepas only replied to me, perhaps, to divert my
attention from some projects which are known unto me; I shall see him
again on Wednesday morning, and my fate will then be decided. You would
give me, sir, a great proof of friendship, by paying him a visit either
to-night or to-morrow morning, and communicating to him the same
sentiments you expressed to me yesterday. It is more important that you
should see him at that time, because, if I hear from Lorient that the
vessels are in readiness, I know not how to dissemble, and I must
demand my farewell audience. The little expedition will then be given
to some lieutenant-colonel, who may never have looked with the eye of a
general, who may not possess great talents, but who, if he be brave and
prudent, will lead the six hundred men as well as M. de Turenne could
do if he were to return to life. The detachment of dragoons might then
be kept back, the more so, as when reduced to fifty it would only
become ridiculous; and the major, who takes charge of the detail, would
likewise attend to the detail of my advance guard, in which I place
great dependence.

I acknowledge to you, that I feel no dependence on M. de Montbarry, and
I even wish, that my affairs could be arranged by you and M. de
Maurepas. I know, sir, that I am asking for a proof of friendship which
must give you some trouble, but I request it because I depend fully
upon that friendship.

Pardon this scrawl, Sir; pardon my importunity; and pardon the liberty
I take in assuring you so simply of my attachment and respect.

DR. FRANKLIN TO THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.

(ORIGINAL.)

Passy, 24th August, 1779.

Sir,--The congress, sensible of your merit towards the United States,
but unable adequately to reward it, determined to present you with a
sword, as a small mark of their grateful acknowledgment: they directed
it to be ornamented with suitable devices. Some of the principal
actions of the war, in which you distinguished yourself by your bravery
and conduct, are therefore represented upon it. These, with a few
emblematic figures, all admirably well executed, make its principal
value. By the help of the exquisite artists of France, I find it easy
to express everything but the sense we have of your worth, and our
obligations to you for this, figures, and even words, are found
insufficient. I, therefore, only add that, with the most perfect
esteem, I have the honour to be,

B. FRANKLIN.

P.S. My grandson goes to Havre with the sword, and will have the honour
of presenting it to you.

TO DR. FRANKLIN.

(ORIGINAL.)

Havre, 29th August, 1779,

Sir,--Whatever expectations might have been raised from the sense of
past favours, the goodness of the United States to me has ever been
such, that on every occasion it far surpasses any idea I could have
conceived. A new proof of that flattering truth I find in the noble
present, which congress has been pleased to honour me with, and which
is offered in such a manner by your excellency as will exceed
everything, but the feelings of an unbounded gratitude.

In some of the devices I cannot help finding too honourable a reward
for those slight services which, in concert with my fellow soldiers,
and under the god-like American hero's orders, I had the good fortune
to render. The sight of those actions, where I was a witness of
American bravery and patriotic spirit, I shall ever enjoy with that
pleasure which becomes a heart glowing with love for the nation, and
the most ardent zeal for its glory and happiness. Assurances of
gratitude, which I beg leave to present to your excellency, are much
too inadequate to my feelings, and nothing but such sentiments can
properly acknowledge your kindness towards me. The polite manner in
which Mr. Franklin was pleased to deliver that inestimable sword, lays
me under great obligations to him, and demands my particular thanks.

With the most perfect respect, I have the honour to be, &c.

FROM GENERAL WASHINGTON TO THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.

(ORIGINAL.)

West Point, 30th Sept., 1779.

MY DEAR MARQUIS,--A few days ago, I wrote a letter in much haste; since
that, I have been honoured with the company of Chevalier de la Luzerne,
and by him was favoured with your obliging letter of the 12th of June,
which filled me with equal pleasure and surprise; the latter at hearing
that you had not received one of the many letters I had written to you
since you left the American shore. It gave me infinite pleasure to hear
from your sovereign, and of the joy which your safe arrival in France
had diffused among your friends. I had no doubt that this would be the
case; to hear it from yourself adds pleasure to the account; and here,
my dear friend, let me congratulate you on your new, honourable, and
pleasing appointment in the army commanded by the Count de Vaux, which
I shall accompany with an assurance that none can do it with more
warmth of affection, or sincere joy, than myself. Your forward zeal in
the cause of liberty; your singular attachment to this infant world;
your ardent and persevering efforts, not only in America, but since
your return to France, to serve the United States; your polite
attention to Americans, and your strict and uniform friendship for me,
have ripened the first impressions of esteem and attachment which I
imbibed for you into such perfect love and gratitude, as neither time
nor absence can impair. This will warrant my assuring you that, whether
in the character of an officer at the head of a corps of gallant
Frenchmen, if circumstances should require this; whether as a major-
general, commanding a division of the American army; or whether, after
our swords and spears have given place to the ploughshare and pruning-
hook, I see you as a private gentleman, a friend and companion, I shall
welcome you with all the warmth of friendship to Columbia's shores;
and, in the latter case, to my rural cottage, where homely fare and a
cordial reception shall be substituted for delicacies and costly
living. This, from past experience, I know you can submit to; and if
the lovely partner of your happiness will consent to participate with
us in such rural entertainment and amusements, I can undertake, in
behalf of Mrs. Washington, that she will do everything in her power to
make Virginia agreeable to the Marchioness. My inclination and
endeavours to do this cannot be doubted, when I assure you that I love
everybody that is dear to you, and, consequently, participate in the
pleasure you feel in the prospect of again becoming a parent; and do
most sincerely congratulate you and your lady on this fresh pledge she
is about to give you of her love.

I thank you for the trouble you have taken, and your polite attention,
in favouring me with a copy of your letter to congress; and feel, as I
am persuaded they must do, the force of such ardent zeal as you therein
express for the interest of this country. The propriety of the hint you
have given them must carry conviction, and, I trust, will have a
salutary effect; though there is not, I believe, the same occasion for
the admonition now that there was several months ago. Many late changes
have taken place in that honourable body, which have removed, in a very
great degree, if not wholly, the discordant spirit which, it is said,
prevailed in the winter, and I hope measures will also be taken to
remove those unhappy and improper differences which have extended
themselves elsewhere, to the prejudice of our affairs in Europe.

I have a great pleasure in the visit which the Chevalier de la Luzerne
and Monsieur Marbois did me the honour to make at this camp; concerning
both of whom I have imbibed the most favourable impressions, and I
thank you for the honourable mention you made of me to them. The
chevalier, till he had announced himself to congress, did not choose to
be received in his public character; if he had, except paying him
military honours, it was not my intention to depart from that plain and
simple manner of living which accords with the real interest and policy
of men struggling under every difficulty for the attainment of the most
inestimable blessing of life, _liberty_. The chevalier was polite
enough to approve my principle, and condescended to appear pleased with
our Spartan living. In a word, he made us all exceedingly happy by his
affability and good humour, while he remained in camp.

You are pleased, my dear marquis, to express an earnest desire of
seeing me in France, after the establishment of our independency, and
do me the honour to add, that you are not singular in your request. Let
me entreat you to be persuaded, that, to meet you anywhere, after the
final accomplishment of so glorious an event, would contribute to my
happiness; and that to visit a country to whose generous aid we stand
so much indebted, would be an additional pleasure; but remember, my
good friend, that I am unacquainted with your language, that I am too
far advanced in years to acquire a knowledge of it, and that, to
converse through the medium of an interpreter, upon common occasions,
especially with the ladies, must appear so extremely awkward, insipid,
and uncouth, that I can scarcely bear it in idea. I will, therefore,
hold myself disengaged for the present; but when I see you in Virginia,
we will talk of this matter, and fix our plans.

The declaration of Spain in favour of France has given universal joy to
every Whig; while the poor Tory droops like a withering flower under a
declining sun. We are anxiously expecting to hear of great and
important events on your side of the Atlantic; at present, the
imagination is left in the wide field of conjecture, our eyes one
moment are turned to an invasion of England, then of Ireland, Minorea,
Gibraltar; in a word, we hope everything, but know not what to expect,
or where to fix. The glorious success of Count d'Estaing in the West
Indies, at the same time that it adds dominion to France, and fresh
lustre to her arms, is a source of new and unexpected misfortune to our
_tender and generous parent_, and must serve to convince her of the
folly of quitting the substance in pursuit of a shadow; and, as there
is no experience equal to that which is bought, I trust she will have a
superabundance of this kind of knowledge, and be convinced, as I hope
all the world and every tyrant in it will be, that the best and only
safe road to honour, glory, and true dignity, is _justice_.

We have such repeated advice of Count d'Estaing's being in these seas,
that, though I have no official information of the event, I cannot help
giving entire credit to the report, and looking for his arrival every
moment, and I am preparing accordingly; the enemy at New York also
expect it; and, to guard against the consequences, as much as it is in
their power to do, are repairing and strengthening all the old
fortifications, and adding new ones in the vicinity of the city. Their
fears, however, do not retard an embarkation which was making, and
generally believed to be for the West Indies or Charlsetown: it still
goes forward; and, by my intelligence, it will consist of a pretty
large detachment. About fourteen days ago, one British regiment (the
forty-fourth completed) and three Hessian regiments were embarked, and
are gone, as is supposed, to Halifax. The operations of the enemy this
campaign have been confined to the establishment of works of defence,
taking a post at King's Ferry, and burning the defenceless towns of New
Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk, on the Sound, within reach of their
shipping, where little else was, or could be, opposed to them, than the
cries of distressed women and helpless children; but these were offered
in vain. Since these notable exploits, they have never stepped out of
their works or beyond their lines. How a conduct of this kind is to
effect the conquest of America, the wisdom of a North, a Germain, or a
Sandwich can best decide, it is too deep and refined for the
comprehension of common understandings and the general run of
politicians.

Mrs. Washington, who set out for Virginia when we took the field in
June, has often, in her letters to me, inquired if I had heard from
you, and will be much pleased at hearing that you are well and happy.
In her name, as she is not here, I thank you for your polite attention
to her, and shall speak her sense of the honour conferred on her by the
Marchioness. When I look back to the length of this letter, I have not
the courage to give it a careful reading for the purpose of correction:
you must, therefore, receive it with all its imperfections, accompanied
with this assurance, that, though there may be many inaccuracies in the
letter, there is not a single defect in the friendship of, my dear
Marquis, yours, &c.

TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.~[1]

(ORIGINAL.)

Havre, 7th October, 1779.

My dear general--From those happy ties of friendship by which you were
pleased to unite yourself with me, from the promises you so tenderly
made me when we parted at Fishkill, gave me such expectations of
hearing often from you, that complaints ought to be permitted to my
affectionate heart. Not a line from you, my dear, general, has yet
arrived into my hands, and though several ships from America, several
despatches from congress or the French minister, are safely brought to
France, my ardent hopes of getting at length a letter from General
Washington have ever been unhappily disappointed: I cannot in any way
account for that bad luck, and when I remember that in those little
separations where I was but some days from you, the most friendly
letters, the most minute account of your circumstances, were kindly
written to me, I am convinced you have not neglected and almost
forgotten me for so long a time. I have, therefore, to complain of
fortune, of some mistake or neglect in acquainting you that there was
an opportunity, of anything; indeed, but what could injure the sense I
have of your affection for me. Let me beseech you, my dear general, by
that mutual, tender, and experienced friendship in which, I have put an
immense portion of my happiness, to be very exact in inquiring for
occasions, and never to miss those which may convey to me letters that
I shall be so much pleased to receive.

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