Memoirs, Correspondence and Manuscripts of General Lafayette by Lafayette

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M. de Lafayette, on arriving at Albany, experienced some
disappointments. Instead of 2500 men, there were not 1200. Stark's
militia had not even received a summons. Clothes, provisions,
magazines, sledges, all were insufficient for that glacial expedition.
By making better preparations and appointing the general earlier,
success would probably have been secured. Several Canadians began to
make a movement, and from that moment they testified great interest in
M. de Lafayette; but two months were requisite to collect all that was
necessary, and towards the middle of March the lakes begin to thaw. M.
de Lafayette, general, at twenty years of age, of a small army,
charged with an important and very difficult operation, authorized by
the orders of congress, animated by the expectations now felt in
America, and which, he knew, would ere long be felt likewise in
Europe, had many motives for becoming adventurous; but, on the other
hand, his resources were slender, the time allowed him was short, the
enemy was in a good position, and Lieutenant-General Carleton was
preparing for him another Saratoga. Forced to take a decisive step
immediately, he wrote a calm letter to congress, and with a heavy sigh
abandoned the enterprise. At the same period, congress, becoming a
little less confident, despatched to him some wavering counsels,
which, arriving too late, only served to compromise the general and
justify the government. But the prudence of M. de Lafayette was at
length rewarded by the approbation of congress and of the nation; and,
until the opening of the campaign, he continued to command that
department.~[27] He found there that intrepid Arnold, who was still
detained by his wound, and who since ...... ; he became intimately
acquainted with Schuyler, the predecessor of Gates, in disgrace as
well as Saint-Clair, but who continued useful to the cause from the
superiority of his talents, his importance in that part of the
country, and the confidence he enjoyed in New York, of which state he
was a citizen.

If Canada did not herself send an offensive army, all the savages were
paid and protected by the English party: the Hurons and Iroquois
committed their devastations on that whole frontier. Some baubles or a
barrel of rum were sufficient to make them seize the tomahawk; they
then rushed upon villages, burnt houses, destroyed harvests, massacred
all, without regard to age or sex, and received on their return the
price of each bloody scalp they could exhibit. A young American girl,
whom her lover, an English, was expecting, that their marriage might
take place, was killed by the very savages he had sent to escort her.
Two Americans were actually eaten up by the Senecas, and a colonel of
the English army was a guest at that horrible repast. "It is thus,"
was often said to the savages, whilst drinking with them at the
councils, "it is thus we must drink the blood of rebels." M. de
Lafayette, conscious that he could not protect such an immense extent
of frontier, prepared quarters in every direction, and announced the
speedy arrival of troops in all the counties; and this stratagem
stopped the depredations of the savages, who do not usually attack
those places in which they expect to find much resistance. But he kept
the Albany troops close together, satisfied them a little as to
payment, provisioned the forts, which had been hitherto neglected, and
arrested a plot of which any particulars have never been precisely
known. He found in George Clinton, governor of the state of New York,
a firm and an enlightened co-operator.

Soon after, Schuyler and Duane, who were charged with the management
of the affairs of the savages, appointed a general assembly at
Johnson's Town, upon the Mohawk river. Recalling to them their former
attachment to the French, M. de Lafayette repaired thither in a sledge
to shew himself in person to those nations whom the English had
endeavoured to prejudice against him. Five hundred men, women, and
children, covered with various coloured paints and feathers, with
their ears cut open, their noses ornamented with rings, and their
half-naked bodies marked with different figures, were present at the
councils. Their old men, whilst smoking, talked politics extremely
well. Their object seemed to be to promote a balance of power; if the
intoxication of rum, as that of ambition in Europe, had not often
turned them aside from it. M. de Lafayette, adopted by them, received
the name of _Kayewla_, which belonged formerly to one of their
warriors; and under this name he is well known to all the savage
tribes. Some louis which he distributed under the form of medals, and
some stuffs from the state of New York, produced but little effect
when compared to the presents they had received from England. A treaty
was entered into, which some of them rigidly observed; and the course
of the evil was at least arrested for the present. The Oneidas and
Tuscaroras, the only real friends the Americans possessed, requested
to have a fort; and M. de Lafayette left them M. de Gouvion, a French
officer, whose talents and virtues rendered him of great value to the
cause. Whenever savages were required at the army, whenever there was
any dealings with these tribes, recourse was always had to the credit
of M. de Lafayette, whose _necklaces_ and _words_ were equally
respected.

On his return, he found that the form of a new oath had been
established, which each civil and military officer was to take,
according to his own religious belief. _An acknowledgment of the
independence, liberty, and sovereignty of the United States; an
eternal renunciation of George III., his successors, and heirs, and
every King of England; a promise to defend the said states against the
said George III_.; this was the purport of the oath administered by
him to the whole northern department.~[28] At the approach of spring,
M. de Lafayette was recalled to the south. The affairs of General
Washington were already in a more flourishing condition. Several of
the states recommended him to their deputies; and from only suspecting
one of them of being unfavourable to him, the New York assembly wished
to recal one of their delegates. Congress had been a little recruited,
and they were thinking of recruiting the army. At Valley-Forge, M. de
Lafayette found some difficulty not from the substance, but merely
from the form of the oath; but that difficulty was easily obviated. A
short time after, Simeon Deane arrived with the treaty of commerce
between France and the United States.

By quitting France in so public a manner, M. de Lafayette had served
the cause of the revolution. One portion of society was anxious for
his success and the attention of the other had become, to say the
least, somewhat occupied in the struggle. If a spirit of emulation
made those connected with the court desirous of war, the rest of the
nation supported the young rebel, and followed with interest all his
movements; and it is well known that the rupture that ensued was truly
a national one. Some circumstances relating to his departure having
displeased the court of London, M. de Lafayette omitted nothing that
could draw more closely together the nations whose union he so
ardently desired. The incredible prejudices of the Americans had been,
augmented by the conduct of the first Frenchmen who had joined them.
These men gradually disappeared, and all those who remained were
remarkable for talents, or at least for probity. They became the
friends of M. de Lafayette, who sincerely sought out all the national
prejudices of the Americans against his countrymen for the purpose of
overcoming them. Love and respect for the name of Frenchman animated
his letters and speeches, and he wished the affection that was granted
to him individually to become completely national. On the other side,
when writing to Europe, he denied the reports made by discontented
adventurers, by good officers who were piqued at not having been
employed, and by those men who, serving themselves in the army, wished
to be witty or amusing by the political contrasts they described in
their letters. But, without giving a circumstantial account of what
private influence achieved, it is certain that enthusiasm for the
cause, and esteem for its defenders, had electrified all France, and
that the affair of Saratoga decided the ministerial commotion. Bills
of conciliation passed in the English house of parliament, and five
commissioners were sent to offer far more than have been demanded
until then. No longer waiting to see _how things would turn out_, M.
de Maurepas yielded to the public wish, and what his luminous mind had
projected, the more unchanging disposition of M. de Vergennes put in
execution. A treaty was generously entered into with Franklin, Deane,
and Arthur Lee, and that treaty was announced with more confidence
than had been for some time displayed. But the war was not
sufficiently foreseen, or at least sufficient preparations were not
made. The most singular fact is, that at the very period when the firm
resistance of the court of France had guided the conduct of two
courts, America had fallen herself into such a state of weakness, that
she was on the very brink of ruin. The 2nd of May, the army made a
bonfire, and M. de Lafayette, ornamented with a white scarf, proceeded
to the spot, accompanied by all the French. Since the arrival of the
conciliatory bills, he had never ceased writing against the
commission, and against every commissioner. The advances of these men
were ill-received by congress; and, foreseeing a French co-operation,
the enemy began to think of quitting Philadelphia.

General Washington sent two thousand chosen men across the Schuylkill
to collect intelligence. M. de Lafayette, their commander, repaired,
the 18th of May, to Barren Hill, eleven miles from the two armies. On
a good elevation, his right resting upon some rocks and the river, on
his left some excellent stone houses and a small wood, his front
sustained by five pieces of cannon, and with roads in his rear, such
was the position of M. de Lafayette. An hundred dragoons whom he was
expecting did not arrive in sufficient time; but he stationed six
hundred militia on his left at Whitemarsh, and their general, Porter,
made himself answerable for those roads. On the evening of the 19th,
Howe, who had just been recalled, and Clinton, who replaced him, sent
out a detachment of seven thousand men, with fourteen pieces of
cannon, under General Grant. Passing behind the inundation, that corps
proceeded on the road to Francfort, and, by a circuitous movement,
fell into that of Whitemarsh, from which the militia had just thought
proper to retire. On the morning of the 20th, M. de Lafayette was
conversing with a young lady, who, on pretence of seeing her
relations, to oblige him had consented to go to Philadelphia, when he
was informed that the red dragoons were at Whitemarsh. It was the
uniform of those he was expecting; he had placed Porter there; he had
promised to pay him a visit, and intended that very evening to carry
thither his detachment. But, for greater security, he examined
carefully into the truth of the report; and, ascertaining that a
column was marching on the left, he changed his front, and covered it
with the houses, the wood, and a small churchyard. Scarcely was that
movement ended, when he found himself cut off by Grant on the Swedes'
Ford road in his rear. It was in the presence of the troops that he
first heard the cry that he was surrounded, and he was forced to smile
at the unpleasant intelligence. Several officers, whom he had
despatched to Valley-Forge, declared that they had been unable to find
a passage. Every moment was precious, and M. de Lafayette proceeded on
the road of Matson Ford, to which the enemy was nearer than himself.
General Poor commanded his advance guard; and to him he sent Gimat,
his own confidential aide-de-camp. He placed himself as the rear
guard, and marched on with rapidity, but without precipitation. Grant
had possession of the heights, and M. de Lafayette's road lay
immediately beneath them. His apparent composure deceived his
adversary; and perceiving that he was reconnoitring him, he presented
to him, from among the trees and behind curtains, false heads of
columns. The time that Grant occupied in reconnoitring, and
discovering an imaginary ambuscade, M. de Lafayette employed in
regaining the foreground; at length he passed by Grant's column. He
managed to impose likewise on Grey's column, which followed him; and
when the third division, under Howe and Clinton, reached Barren Hill,
the Americans had already passed over Matson Ford. Forming themselves
on the opposite shore, they awaited the enemy, who dared not attack
them. Advancing on the ground, Howe was astonished at finding only one
red line: the generals quarrelled; and although the commander in chief
had invited some ladies to sup with M. de Lafayette, although the
admiral, (Howe's brother,) knowing him to be surrounded, had prepared
a frigate for him, the whole army, (of which half had made a march of
forty miles,) returned, much fatigued, without having taken a single
man. It was then that fifty savages, friends of the Americans,
encountered fifty English dragoons; and the cries of war on one side,
and the appearance of the cavalry on the other, surprised the parties
so much that they both fled, with equal speed. The alarm had been
likewise great at Valley Forge; and the report of three pieces of
cannon that were there fired appeared an additional mystery to Grant.
The aim of the general being attained, the detachment returned to its
quarters, and M. de Lafayette was well received by the general and
army.~[29]

An exchange of prisoners had long been talked of, and the cruelty of
the English rendered this measure more necessary. Cooped up in a
vessel at New York, and breathing a most noxious atmosphere, the
American prisoners suffered all that gross insolence could add to
famine, dirt, disease, and complete neglect. Their food was, to say
the least, unwholesome. The officers, often confounded with their
soldiers, appealed to former capitulations and to the right of
nations; but they were only answered by fresh outrages. When one
victim sunk beneath such treatment, "Tis well," was said to the
survivors; "there is one rebel less." Acts of retaliation had been but
rarely practised by the Americans; and the English, like other
tyrants, mistook their mildness and generosity for timidity. Five
hundred Americans, in a half-dying state, had been carried to the
sea-shore, where the greatest number of them soon expired, and the
general very properly refused to reckon them in exchange for his own
prisoners of war. Another obstacle to the cartel was the capture of
Lee, who had been taken prisoner in 1776; the congress insisted on his
liberation, and, after much debating on both sides, he was at length
exchanged for General Prescot. Lee, who had been formerly a colonel in
the English service, a general in Poland, and a fellow-soldier of the
Russians and Portuguese, was well acquainted with all countries, all
services, and several languages. His features were plain, his turn of
mind caustic, his feelings ambitious and avaricious, his temper
uncomplying, and his whole appearance singular and unprepossessing. A
temporary fit of generosity had induced him to quit the English
service, and the Americans, at that period, listened to him as to an
oracle. In his heart he detested the general, and felt a sincere
affection for himself alone; but, in 1776, his advice had undoubtedly
saved both the general and the army. He made many advances to M. de
Lafayette, but the one was a violent Englishman, and the other an
enthusiastic Frenchman, and their intimacy was often interrupted by
their differences of opinion. Gates, whose great projects had been
frustrated, was at that time commanding a corps at White Plains, upon
the left side of the Hudson, opposite to the island of New York.
Conway had retired from service, and the place of inspector, which had
been created for him, was given to Steuben, an old Prussian, with
moderate talents, but methodical habits, who organized the army and
perfected their tactics. The congress received at that time some
conciliatory epistles, and the sentiments their answers breathed, like
all the other deliberations of that assembly, were nobly felt, and
nobly expressed. Lord Carlisle was president of the commission, and
Lord Howe, Sir Henry Clinton, Mr. Eden, and Governor Johnstone were
its members. The last named person wrote to some friends, who
published his letters.

On the 17th of June, Philadelphia was evacuated. The invalids,
magazines, and heavy ammunition of the British were embarked with the
general; the commissioners of conciliation alone remained behind.
Passing over to Gloucester, the army marched in two columns, each
consisting of seven thousand men, commanded by Clinton and Knyphausen,
towards New York. The army of the United States, which was of nearly
equal force, directed itself from Valley Forge to Coryell's Ferry, and
from thence to King's Town, within a march of the enemy; it was thus
left at the option of the Americans, either to follow on their track,
or to repair to White Plains. In a council held on this subject, Lee
very eloquently endeavoured to prove that it was necessary to erect a
bridge of gold for the enemy; that while on the very point of forming
an alliance with them, every thing ought not to be placed at hazard;
that the English army had never been so excellent and so well
disciplined; he declared himself to be for White Plains: his speech
influenced the opinion of Lord Stirling and of the brigadiers-general.
M. de Lafayette, placed on the other side, spoke late, and asserted
that it would be disgraceful for the chiefs, and humiliating for the
troops, to allow the enemy to traverse the Jerseys tranquilly; that,
without running, any improper risk, the rear guard might be attacked;
that it was necessary to follow the English, manoeuvre with prudence,
take advantage of a temporary separation, and, in short, seize the
most favourable opportunities and situations. This advice was approved
by many of the council, and above all by M. du Portail, chief of the
engineers, and a very distinguished officer. The majority were,
however, in favour of Lee; but M. de Lafayette spoke again to the
general on this subject in the evening, and was seconded by Hamilton,
and by Greene, who had been lately named quarter-master in place of
Mifflin. Several of the general officers changed their opinion; and
the troops having already begun their march, they were halted, in
order to form a detachment. When united, there were 3,000
continentalists and 1,200 militia; the command fell to the share of
Lee, but, by the express desire of the general, M. de Lafayette
succeeded in obtaining it. Everything was going on extremely well,
when Lee changed his mind, and chose to command the troops himself;
having again yielded this point, he re-changed once more; and as the
general wished him to adhere to his first decision--"It is my fortune
and honour," said Lee, to M. de Lafayette, "that I place in your
hands; you are too generous to cause the loss of both!" This tone
succeeded better, and M. de Lafayette promised to ask for him the next
day. The enemy, unfortunately, continued their march; M. de Lafayette
was delayed by want of provisions; and it was not until the 26th, at a
quarter to twelve at night, that he could ask for Lee, who was sent
with a detachment of one thousand men to Englishtown, on the left side
of the enemy. The first corps had advanced upon the right; and M. de
Lafayette, by Lee's especial order, joined him at midday, within reach
of the enemy from whom he fortunately succeeded in concealing this
movement. The two columns of the English army had united together at
Monmouth Court-house, from whence they departed on the morning of the
28th. Whilst following them, the Americans marched rapidly through the
woods of Freehold; and at eight o'clock the enemy's rear-guard was
still in the vicinity of the court-house. If Lee had continued the
direction he was then taking, he would have placed himself in an
excellent position, especially as the American army was advancing on
the road to Freehold; but the head of his cohort quitted the wood,
into which it was again forced to retreat by the enemy's cannon. Lee
then addressing himself to M. de Lafayette, told him to cross the
plain, and attack the left flank of the enemy; and whilst this
manoeuvre, which exposed them to the fire of the English artillery,
was executing, he sent him an order to fall back into the village in
which he had placed the rest of the troops. From thence he drew back
still farther, and, changing his attack to a retreat, he exposed
himself to be driven back by Lord Cornwallis, and subsequently by the
whole English army, to whom good space of time had been allowed to
form themselves in proper order.

At the first retrograde movement, M. de Lafayette sent information to
the general of what was passing, who, arriving speedily on the spot,
found the troops retreating in confusion. "You know," said Lee, "that
all this was against my advice." The general, sending Lee to the
rear,~[30] himself formed seven or eight hundred men, and stationed
them, with some cannon, upon a chosen spot, and M. de Lafayette
undertook to retard the enemy's march. The English dragoons made their
first charge upon a small morass which sheltered him: the infantry
marched round to attack him on the other side, but he had sufficient
time to retire; and the army had by this time placed itself upon a
height, where he took the command of the second line. A cannonade was
kept up on both sides during the whole day, and two attacks of the
enemy were repulsed. A battery, placed on their left, obliged them to
change their position, and, when they presented their flank, the
general attacked them and forced them to retreat, until darkness
interrupted all operations. The American troops continued to gain
ground, and Clinton retired during the night, leaving behind him more
than three hundred dead and many wounded. The heat was so intense that
the soldiers fell dead without having received a single wound, and the
fire of battle soon became untenable. During this affair which ended
so well, although begun so ill, General Washington appeared to arrest
fortune by his glance, and his presence of mind, valour, and decision
of character, were never displayed to greater advantage than at that
moment.~[31] Wayne distinguished himself; Greene and the brave
Stirling led forward the first line in the ablest manner. From four
o'clock in the morning until night M. de Lafayette was momentarily
obliged to change his occupations. The general and he passed the night
lying on the same mantle, talking over the conduct of Lee, who wrote
the next morning a very improper letter, and was placed under arrest.
He was afterwards suspended by a council of war, quitted the service,
and was not regretted by the army. Clinton having retreated towards
the hollows of Shrewsbury, the general contented himself with the
success already gained, and marched towards White Plains; the second
line, under M. de Lafayette forming the right column. The 4th of July,
being the anniversary of the declaration of independence, was
celebrated at Brunswick; and a few days later the army learnt that the
Count d'Estaing was before New York.~[32]

Twelve French vessels, which sailed from Toulon, had been three months
in reaching the Delaware: they arrived three days after the departure
of the English fleet, and, following it to New York, M. d'Estaing
anchored at Sandy-hook, outside the bar. He offered immense sums to be
conveyed across that bar, but the pilots declared that the large
vessels drew too much water, and the French finally agreed to attack
Rhode Island, which the enemy then occupied with a force of 5000 men,
who had entrenched themselves; whilst the state militia, under the
command of Sullivan, were stationed at Providence. M. Girard, a French
minister, arrived on board that squadron; he had been long most
anxiously expected by the Americans, and M. de Lafayette called his
delay a proof of confidence. The last mark of attention with which the
court honoured M. de Lafayette, had been an order to arrest him in the
West Indies; he was, in truth, out of favour in that quarter, and
their displeasure had increased on receiving his letters, which were
dictated less by the prudence of a philosopher than by the enthusiasm
of a young lover of liberty: but although no letters were addressed to
him, M. d'Estaing was not less kind and attentive in his conduct; and
2000 continentalists having been despatched from White-Plains to
Providence, M. de Lafayette, who had exerted himself to hasten their
departure, conducted them rapidly along the sound, across a smiling
country, covered with villages, in which the evident equality of the
population distinctly proved the democracy of the government. From the
apparent prosperity of each colony, it was easy to judge of the degree
of freedom which its constitution might enjoy.

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