Memoirs, Correspondence and Manuscripts of General Lafayette by Lafayette

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M. de Lafayette, having been conveyed by water to Philadelphia, was
carefully attended to by the citizens, who were all interested in his
situation and extreme youth. That same evening the congress determined
to quit the city: a vast number of the inhabitants deserted their own
hearths--whole families, abandoning their possessions, and uncertain
of the future, took refuge in the mountains. M. de Lafayette was
carried to Bristol in a boat; he there saw the fugitive congress, who
only assembled again on the other side of the Susquehannah; he was
himself conducted to Bethlehem, a Moravian establishment, where the
mild religion of the brotherhood, the community of fortune, education,
and interests, amongst that large and simple family, formed a striking
contrast to scenes of blood, and the convulsions occasioned by a civil
war.

After the Brandywine defeat, the two armies maneouvered along the
banks of the Schuylkill. General Washington still remained on a height
above the enemy, and completely out of his reach; nor had they again
an opportunity of cutting him off. Waine, an American brigadier, was
detached to observe the English; but, being surprised during the
night, near the White-Horse, by General Grey, he lost there the
greatest part of his corps. At length Howe crossed the Schuylkill at
Swede's Ford, and Lord Cornwallis entered Philadelphia.

In spite of the declaration of independence of the New States,
everything there bore the appearance of a civil war. The names of Whig
and Tory distinguished the republicans and royalists; the English army
was still called the _regular troops_; the British sovereign was
always designated by the name of the king. Provinces, towns, and
families were divided by the violence of party spirit: brothers,
officers in the two opposing armies, meeting by chance in their
father's house, have seized their arms to fight with each other.
Whilst, in the rancour of their pride, the English committed horrible
acts of licence and cruelty,--whilst discipline dragged in her train
those venal Germans who knew only how to kill, burn, and pillage, in
the same army were seen regiments of Americans, who, trampling under
foot their brethren, assisted in enslaving their wasted country. Each
canton contained a still greater number whose sole object was to
injure the friends of liberty, and give information to those of
despotism. To these inveterate Tories must be added the number of
those whom fear, private interest, or religion, rendered adverse to
war. If the Presbyterians, the children of Cromwell and Fairfax,
detested royalty, the Lutherans, who had sprung from it, were divided
among themselves: the Quakers hated slaughter, but served willingly as
guides to the royal troops. Insurrections were by no means uncommon:
near the enemy's stations, farmers often shot each other; robbers were
even encouraged. The republican chiefs were exposed to great dangers
when they travelled through the country; it was always necessary for
them to declare that they should pass the night in one house, then
take possession of another, barricade themselves in it, and only sleep
with their arms by their side. In the midst of these troubles, M. de
Lafayette was no longer considered as a stranger; never was any
adoption more complete than his own: and whilst, in the councils of
war, he trembled when he considered that his voice (at twenty years of
age) might decide the fate of two worlds, he was also initiated in
those deliberations in which, by reassuring the Whigs, intimidating
the Tories, supporting an ideal money, and redoubling their firmness
in the hour of adversity, the American chiefs conducted that
revolution through so many obstacles.

Confined to his bed for six weeks, M. de Lafayette suffered from his
wound, but still more severely from his inactivity. The good Moravian
brothers loved him, and deplored his warlike folly. Whilst listening
to their sermons, he planned setting Europe and Asia in a flame. As he
was no longer able to do anything but write, he wrote to the commander
of la Martinique, and proposed to him to make a descent upon the
English islands under American colours. He wrote also to M. de
Maurepas, and offered to conduct some Americans to the Isle of France,
concerting previously with individuals an attack upon the English
factories.~[21] From the particulars which have since become known,
that project in India would have succeeded; but it was rejected at
Versailles, where no answers were yet vouchsafed to M. de Lafayette's
letters. Bouille more ardent in temper, would have adopted the whole
plan, but he could not act without permission; and these delays led to
the period of the war which M. de Lafayette was so desirous of
bringing on.

During his residence at Bethlehem, the English entrenched themselves
at Philadelphia. The two rivers which encompassed the town were united
by a chain of wooden palisades and good redoubts, partly covered by an
inundation. A portion of their army was encamped at Germantown, five
miles in advance of those lines; these were attacked, the 4th of
October, by Washington, and although his left column was retarded by
an absurd precedence of divisions, and misled by a thick
fog,--although the advance guard of the right, under Conway, attacked
in front what it ought to have attacked in flank, the enemy was not
less taken by surprise and beaten, and the general, with his
victorious wing, passed through the whole extent of the enemy's
encampment. All things went on well until then; but a false movement
of the left column, and still more the attack of a stone house which
they should have turned, gave the enemy time to rally. Howe was
thinking of a retreat, but Cornwallis arrived in haste with a
reinforcement. The Americans repassed through the English encampment,
and the action ended by a complete defeat. Many men were lost on both
sides. General Agnew, an Englishman, and General Nash, an American,
were killed. The Americans had some dragoons under Pulaski, the only
one of the confederated Poles who had refused to accept a pardon. He
was an intrepid knight, a libertine and devotee, and a better captain
than general; he insisted on being a Pole on all occasions, and M. de
Lafayette, after having contributed to his reception in the army,
often exerted himself to effect a reconciliation betwixt him and the
other officers. Without waiting for his wound to be closed, M. de
Lafayette returned to head-quarters, twenty-five miles from
Philadelphia. The enemy, who had fallen back upon their lines,
attacked Fort Mifflin, upon an island, and Fort Red-Bank, on the left
side of the Delaware. Some _chevaux de frise_, protected by the forts,
and some galleys, stopped the fleet, magazines, and detachments which
had been sent from the Chesapeak. Amongst the skirmishes which took
place betwixt small parties of soldiers, the most remarkable one was
the surprise of a corps of militia at Cevoked-Billet,~[22] in which
the English burnt their wounded prisoners in a barn. Such was the
situation of the south, when news was received of the capitulation of
Burgoyne. That general, when he quitted Canada, had made a diversion
on his right; but Saint Leger had failed in an operation against Fort
Schuyler; and he himself, by advancing towards Albany, appeared to
have lost much time. Gates was constantly adding numerous militia to
his continental troops. All the citizens being armed militia, a signal
of alarm assembled them, or an order of state summoned them to march.
But if that crusade were rather a voluntary one, their residence at
the camp was still more dependent on their own inclination: the
discipline was suitable to the formation of the corps. The
continentalists, on the contrary, belonged to the thirteen states, of
which each one supplied some regiments; the soldiers were either
engaged for the war or for three years, which improper alternative was
occasioned by republican jealousy. These regular troops had military
regulations, a severe discipline, and the officers of each state vied
with each other for promotion. Gates, placed in an entrenched
position, in the centre of woods, on the road to Albany, and with the
North river on his right, had assembled sixteen thousand men; and this
invasion of the enemy, by threatening New England, had served as an
instant summons to the brave militia. They had already proved their
strength at Bennington, where Stark had surrounded and destroyed a
detachment belonging to Burgoyne. The enemy, having arrived within
three miles of Gates, and not being able to make a circuit round him
without abandoning their cannon and military accoutrements, attempted
twice to force him; but they had scarcely commenced their march when
Arnold fell upon them with his division, and in those woods, lined
with sharpshooters, it was only possible for them to reach the
entrenchments. Arnold had his leg broken at the second affair;
Lincoln, the other major-general, was wounded also. Four thousand men,
who embarked at New York, had, it is true, ascended the Hudson. Whilst
Vaughan was needlessly burning Esopus, Clinton had taken all the forts
that defended the river. They were but little annoyed by Putnam, who,
in the first breaking out of the troubles, had thrown aside his plough
to bear to the army far more zeal than talent. But still that
diversion was too weak; and by a note which a spy who had been taken
swallowed, but which was recovered by an emetic, it was seen that
Clinton was aware of his own weakness. Burgoyne, abandoned by the
savages, regretting his best soldiers, and Frazer, his best general,
reduced to five thousand men, who were in want of provisions, wished
to retreat; but it was then too late: his communications were no
longer open; and it was at Saratoga, some miles in the rear of his
army, that he signed the celebrated convention. A brilliant troop,
covered with gold, filed out with Burgoyne: they encountered Gates and
his officers, all clothed in plain grey cloth. After a frugal repast,
the two generals beheld the conquered army filing out; and, as a
member of parliament said, "_five thousand men crossed the rebel
country to take up their winter quarters near Boston_." Clinton then
redescended to New York, and the militia returned to their domestic
hearths. Gates' chief merit consisted in his skilful choice of a
position; Burgoyne's misfortune was owing to the nature of the
country, which was impracticable and almost a desert. If the enemies
of the former criticised the terms of the convention, M. de Lafayette
loudly proclaimed how glorious he thought it; but he blamed Gates
afterwards for rendering himself independent of his general, and for
retaining the troops which he ought to have sent him. To obtain them,
it was necessary to despatch Hamilton, a young man of great talents,
whose counsels had justly acquired much credit.~[23]

The forts of the Delaware had not yet yielded: that of Red-Bank,
defended by four hundred men, was attacked, sword in hand, by sixteen
hundred Hessians. The work having been reduced by Mauduit, a young
Frenchman, the enemy engaged betwixt the old and new entrenchments.
They were driven back with the loss of seven hundred men and Count
Donop, their chief, whose last words were--"_I die the victim of my
own ambition, and the avarice of my sovereign_." That fort was
commanded by an old and respected colonel, Greene, who, three years
after, was massacred by the English to whom he had surrendered,
whilst, covering him with his own body, an old negro perished
heroically by his side. Fort Mifflin, although attacked by land and
water, did not defend itself less valiantly; the _Augusta_, an English
ship of the line, had been already blown up; a frigate also perished;
and Colonel Smith did not even think of surrendering: but the island
being attacked from an unknown passage, the works were assaulted from
the rear, and were obliged to be evacuated. Lord Cornwallis and five
thousand men having fallen upon the Jerseys, it became also necessary
to quit Red-Bank which the Americans blew up before leaving it:
General Greene, crossing the river at Trenton opposed, with a
precisely equal force, the detachment of Cornwallis.

Although M. de Lafayette's wound was not yet sufficiently closed for
him to put on a boot, he accompanied Greene to Mount Holly; and
detaching himself in order to reconnoitre, he found the enemy,
November 25th, at Gloucester, opposite Philadelphia. The booty they
had collected was crossing the river. To assure himself more fully on
this point M. de Lafayette advanced upon the strip of land called
Sandy Point, and for this imprudence he would have paid dearly if
those who had the power of killing him had not depended too much on
those who had the power of taking him prisoner. After having succeeded
in somewhat appeasing the terror of his guides, he found himself,
about four o'clock, two miles from the English camp, before a post of
four hundred Hessians with their cannon. Having only three hundred and
fifty men, most of them militia, he suddenly attacked the enemy, who
gave way before him. Lord Cornwallis came up with his grenadiers; but,
supposing himself to be engaged with the corps of General Greene, he
allowed himself to be driven back to the neighbourhood of Gloucester,
with a loss of about sixty men. Greene arrived in the night, but would
not attack the enemy. Lord Cornwallis passed over the river, and the
American detachment rejoined the army at its station at Whitemarsh,
twelve miles from Philadelphia. It had occupied, since the last month,
some excellent heights; the general's accurate glance had discerned
the situation of the encampment through an almost impenetrable wood.

The slight success of Gloucester gratified the army, and especially
the militia. The congress resolved, that "it would be extremely
agreeable to them to see the Marquis de Lafayette at the head of a
division."~[24] He quitted, therefore, his situation of volunteer, and
succeeded Stephen in the command of the Virginians. The junction of
Cornwallis having been the work of some hours, and that of Greene
requiring several marches, it is difficult to imagine why Howe gave
him time to arrive, and only proceeded with his army on the 5th of
December to Chesnut Hill, three miles from Whitemarsh. After having
felt his way with the right wing, of which he stood in some awe, he
threatened to attack the extreme left; and that wing, following his
own movements, stationed itself on the declivity of the heights. Some
shots were exchanged betwixt the English light horsemen and the
American riflemen, very skilful carabineers, who inhabit the frontiers
of the savage tribes. Not being able to attack that position, and not
wishing to make the circuit of it, Howe returned, on the fourth day,
to Philadelphia. In spite of the northern reinforcements, the
Americans were reduced to nine thousand, and the advanced season
diminished their numbers rapidly. The protection of the country had
cost the army dear. The 15th of December they marched toward Swedes'
Ford, where Lord Cornwallis was accidentally foraging on the other
side of the river. M. de Lafayette, being upon duty, was examining a
position, when his escort and the enemy fired upon each other. The
uncertainty being mutual, Lord Cornwallis and General Washington
suspended their march; the former having retired during the night, the
army crossed over the Schuylkill, and entrenched itself in the station
of Valley-Forge, twenty-two miles from Philadelphia. Having skillfully
erected there, in a few days, a city of wooden huts the army
established itself in its melancholy winter quarters. A small corps
was detached to Wilmington, and fortified itself, under the command of
Brigadier-General Smallwood.

Notwithstanding the success in the north, the situation of the
Americans had never been more critical than at the present moment. A
paper money, without out any certain foundation, and unmixed with any
specie, was both counterfeited by the enemy and discredited by their
partizans. They feared to establish taxes, and had still less the
power of levying them. The people, who had risen against the taxation
of England, were astonished at paying still heavier taxes now; and the
government was without any power to enforce them. On the other side,
New York and Philadelphia were overstocked with gold and various
merchandizes; the threatened penalty of death could not stop a
communication that was but too easy. To refuse the payment of taxes,
to depreciate the paper currency, and feed the enemy, was a certain
method of attaining wealth; privations and misery were only
experienced by good citizens. Each proclamation of the English was
supported by their seductions, their riches, and the intrigues of the
Tories. Whilst a numerous garrison lived sumptuously at New York, some
hundreds of men, ill-clothed and ill-fed, wandered upon the shores of
the Hudson. The army of Philadelphia, freshly recruited from Europe,
abundantly supplied with everything they could require, consisted of
eighteen thousand men: that of Valley-Forge was successively reduced
to five thousand men; and two marches on the fine Lancaster road, (on
which road also was a chain of magazines,) by establishing the English
in the rear of their right flank, would have rendered their position
untenable; from which, however, they had no means of retiring. The
unfortunate soldiers were in want of everything; they had no coats,
hats, shirts, or shoes; their feet and legs froze till they became
black, and it was often necessary to amputate them. From want of
money, they could neither obtain provisions nor any means of
transport; the colonels were often reduced to two rations, and
sometimes even to one. The army frequently remained whole days without
provisions, and the patient endurance of both soldiers and officers
was a miracle which each moment served to renew. But the sight of
their misery prevented new engagements; it was almost impossible to
levy recruits; it was easy to desert into the interior of the country.
The sacred liberty was not extinguished, it is true, and the majority
of the citizens detested British tyranny; but the triumph of the
north, and the tranquillity of the south, had lulled to sleep
two-thirds of the continent. The remaining part was harassed by two
armies; and, throughout this revolution, the great difficulty was,
that, in order to conceal misfortunes from the enemy, it was necessary
to conceal them from the nation also; that by awakening the one,
information was likewise given to the other; and that fatal blows
would have been struck upon the weakest points before democratic
tardiness could have been roused to support them. It was from this
cause that, during the whole war, the real force of the army was
always kept a profound secret; even congress was not apprised of it,
and the generals were often themselves deceived. General Washington
never placed unlimited confidence in any person, except in M. de
Lafayette; because for him alone, perhaps, confidence sprung from warm
affection. As the situation grew more critical, discipline became more
necessary. In the course of his nocturnal rounds, in the midst of
heavy snows, de Lafayette was obliged to break some negligent
officers. He adopted in every respect the American dress, habits, and
food. He wished to be more simple, frugal, and austere than the
Americans themselves. Brought up in the lap of luxury, he suddenly
changed his whole manner of living, and his constitution bent itself
to privation as well as to fatigue. He always took the liberty of
freely writing his ideas to congress; or, in imitation of the prudence
of the general, he gave his opinion to some members of a corps or
state assembly, that, being adopted by them, it might be brought
forward in the deliberations of congress.

In addition to the difficulties which lasted during the whole of the
war, the winter of Valley-Forge recals others still more painful. At
Yorktown, behind the Susquehannah, congress was divided into two
factions, which, in spite of their distinction of south and east, did
not the less occasion a separation between members of the same state.
The deputies substituted their private intrigues for the wishes of the
nation. Several impartial men had retired; several states had but one
representative, and in some cases not even one. Party spirit was so
strong, that three years afterwards congress still felt the effects of
it. Any great event, however, would awaken their patriotism; and when
Burgoyne declared that his treaty had been broken, means were found to
stop the departure of his troops, which everything, even the few
provisions for the transports, had foolishly betrayed. But all these
divisions failed to produce the greatest of calamities--the loss of
the only man capable of conducting the revolution.

Gates was at Yorktown, where he inspired respect by his manners,
promises, and European acquirements. Amongst the deputies who united
themselves to him, may be numbered the Lees, Virginians, enemies of
Washington, and the two Adams. Mifflin, quarter-master-general, aided
him with his talents and brilliant eloquence. They required a name to
bring forward in the plot, and they selected Conway, who fancied
himself the chief of a party. To praise Gates, with a certain portion
of the continent and the troops, was a pretext for speaking of
themselves. The people attach themselves to prosperous generals, and
the commander-in-chief had been unsuccessful. His own character
inspired respect and affection; but Greene, Hamilton, Knox, his best
friends, were sadly defamed. The Tories fomented these dissensions.
The presidency of the war-office, which had been created for Gates,
restricted the power of the general. This was not the only
inconvenience; a committee from congress arrived at the camp, and the
attack of Philadelphia was daringly proposed. The most shrewd people
did not believe that Gates was the real object of this intrigue.
Though a good officer he had not the power to assert himself. He would
have given place to the famous General Lee, then a prisoner of the
English, whose first care would have been to have made over to them
his friends and all America.

Attached to the general, and still more so to the cause, M. de
Lafayette did not hesitate for a moment; and, in spite of the caresses
of one party, he remained faithful to the other, whose ruin seemed
then impending. He saw and corresponded frequently with the general,
and often discused with him his own private situation, and the effect
that various meliorations in the army might produce. Having sent for
his wife to the camp, the general preserved in his deportment the
noble composure which belongs to a strong and virtuous mind. "I have
not sought for this place," said he to M. de Lafayette; "if I am
displeasing to the nation I will retire; but until then I will oppose
all intrigues."

(1778.) The 22nd of January, congress resolved that Canada should be
entered, and the choice fell upon M. de Lafayette. The Generals Conway
and Stark were placed under him. Hoping to intoxicate and govern so
young a commander, the war-office, without consulting the
commander-in- chief, wrote to him to go and await his further
instructions at Albany.~[25] But after having won over by his
arguments the committee which congress had sent to the camp, M. de
Lafayette hastened to Yorktown, and declared there "that he required
circumstantial orders, a statement of the means to be employed, the
certainty of not deceiving the Canadians, an augmentation of generals,
and rank for several Frenchmen, fully impressed," he added, "with the
various duties and advantages they derived from their name; but the
first condition he demanded was, not to be made, like Gates,
independent of General Washington." At Gates' own house he braved the
whole party, and threw them into confusion by making them drink the
health of their general.~[26] In congress he was supported by
President Laurens, and he obtained all that he demanded. His
instructions from the war-office promised that 2500 men should be
assembled at Albany, and a large corps of militia at Coos; that he
should have two millions in paper money, some hard specie, and, all
means supplied for crossing lake Champlain upon the ice, whence, after
having burnt the English flotilla, he was to proceed to Montreal, and
act there as circumstances might require.

Repassing then, not without some danger, the Susquehannah, which was
filled with floating masses of ice, M. de Lafayette set out for
Albany, and, in spite of the obstacles offered by ice and snow,
rapidly traversed an extent of four hundred miles. Whilst travelling
thus on horseback, he became thoroughly acquainted with the simplicity
and purity of the inhabitants, their patriarchal mode of life, and
their republican ideas. Devoted to their household cares, the women
are happy, and afford to their husbands the calmest and truest
felicity. The unmarried women alone is love spoken of, and their
modesty enhances the charm of their innocent coquetry. In the chance
marriages which take place in Paris, the fidelity of the wife is often
repugnant to the voice of nature and of reason, one might almost say
to the principles of justice. In America, a girl marries her lover,
and it would be like having two lovers at the same time if she were to
break that valid agreement; because both parties know equally how and
in what manner they are bound to each other. In the bosom of their own
families, the men occupy themselves with their private affairs, or
assemble together to regulate those of the state. They talk politics
over their glasses, and become animated by patriotism rather than
strong liquor. Whilst the children shed tears at the name of Tory, the
old men sent up prayers to Heaven that they might be permitted to see
the end of that war. During his repeated and rapid journeys, M. de
Lafayette, mixing with all classes of society, was not wholly useless
to the good cause, to the interest of the French, and to the party of
General Washington.

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