Adopted Son
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58. The best account of FVS’ early years is Palmer, General von Steuben, 9–102. See also Chase, Baron von Steuben; Kapp, Life of Steuben; CIG 1:88–106; CW, 33–36.
59. JL to HL, FEB 1778, quoted FGW 11:329n. JL served as interpreter between GW and FVS.
60. Quoted Palmer, Washington, Lincoln Wilson, 47.
61. Quoted Kapp, Life of Steuben, 115–17.
62. Kapp, Life of Steuben, 123; Wright, Continental Army, 140–42.
63. Palmer, General von Steuben, 144–45; Palmer, Washington, Lincoln, Wilson, 48; Kapp, Life of Steuben, 126.
64. Palmer, General von Steuben, 140–48; Doyle, Steuben, 360; Walker quoted Scheer and Rankin, Rebels, 308; Flexner, George Washington American, 288.
65. Flexner, George Washington American, 288. See also Wright, Organization, 229–36.
66. CIG 1:121–22; Ganoe, History, 55; Kapp, Life of Steuben, 131.
67. Palmer, General von Steuben, 140–41; CIG 1:123–27.
68. Palmer, General von Steuben, 152–57; Weigley, History, 64.
69. Palmer, General von Steuben, 151–52.
70. Thane, Fighting Quaker, 127.
71. Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 105; Duponceau quoted Chinard, George Washington as French, 16; Golway, Washington’s General, 158; Thayer, Nathanael Greene, 223–25.
72. Thayer, Nathanael Greene, 223–25; Laf to HL, FEB 9, 1778, and Memoir of 1779, ILA 1:245, 285–86.
Chapter Seven
1. Laf to de Francy, APR 10, Laf to HL, APR 26, and HL to Laf, MAY 3, 1778, ILA 2:20–22, 39, 45–46.
2. Laf to McLane, MAY 18, and as a typical example on widows, Laf to DM, APR nd, 1778, ILA 2:19–20, 55. Laf became a dedicated spymaster at GW’s behest, and loved it, as will be seen. For GW’s own espionage program, see a valuable recent account, Rose, Washington’s Spies.
3. Memoirs quoted Unger, Lafayette, 70.
4. Laf to HL, APR 10, May 10 and JUL 23, to Adr, APR 14, and to Charles Lee, JUN nd, and HL to Laf, JUL 18, 1778, ILA 2:23–28, 29–30, 47–48, 62–64, 108–10, 112–13; GW to PC, JUL 14, 1778, FGW 12:225; Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 169–70.
5. Laf to GW, MAR 22, 1778, Laf to Adr, APR 14, and to HL, MAY 10, 1778, ILA 1:375, 2:29–30, 47–48, and 48n citing FGW 11:390–91.
6. Laf to HL, APR 21, 1778, ILA 2:30–33.
7. Higginbotham, War, 231–32; Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin, 344–49. For the French side of the story, see Corwin, French Policy. The queen looked down her royal nose at Americans in general and Franklin in particular. Requiring them to attend her took some of the shine off their diplomatic triumph.
8. BF and SD to PC, FEB 8, 1778, Wharton 2:490–91; Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 175–76. Changes in GW’s behavior under Laf’s influence were reflected in his farewell to his officers in New York in 1783. Whereas he had formerly been stiffly formal, on that occasion he hugged and kissed each one, tears flowing all around. Weintraub, General Washington’s Christmas, 85–87.
9. GW to PC, MAY 1, 1778, FGW 11:332–33; Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:5.
10. Laf to PC, and to HL, both MAY 1, 1778, ILA 2:40–43.
11. Laf to de Francy, MAY 14, 1778, ILA 2:48–49; Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 178–82.
12. Laf to de Francy, MAY 2, 1778, ILA 2:44–45.
13. Laf to Adr, JUN 16, 1778, ILA 2:77–79.
14. GW quoted Palmer, General von Steuben, 163. In a tradition predating Alexander the Great, the best troops held the right end of the line, although by the eighteenth century this had become a point of honor or seniority. To head off complaints, GW arrayed the Continental Army left to right in the same order as their home states faced the Atlantic—New Englanders on the left, southerners on the right.
15. Palmer, General von Steuben, 162–65; Flexner, George Washington American, 289–91; Thayer, Nathanael Greene, 238; Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 181–82; RM to GW, MAY 9, 1778, SGW 5:357. JL’s account of the review, in Townsend, American Soldier, 95, says that the “running fire” was followed each time by “loud huzzas.”
16. Officer quoted Palmer, General von Steuben, 164; GW quoted Kapp, Life of Steuben, 139.
17. GW, Questions for the consideration of the general officers, APR 20, 1778, FGW 11:282–83; Laf to GW, APR 25, 1778, ILA 2:35–39; GW quoted SGW 5:360.
18. GW, Orders to Laf, MAY 18, 1778, ILA 2:53–54.
19. Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:6. Barren Hill is now called Lafayette Hill.
20. Leckie, Wars, 1:183; Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:7.
21. Boatner, 59–61.
22. Martin, Narrative, 103; Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:6–7.
23. Martin, Narrative, 103–5; Boatner, 60.
24. Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:7. Other accounts of Barren Hill include Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 186–93; Martin, Philadelphia Campaign, 182–86; and Callahan, Daniel Morgan, 158–60.
25. Martin, Narrative, 106.
26. Laf to HL, MAY 25 and JUN 1, and HL to Laf, MAY 29, 1778, ILA 2:58–61, 64–65.
27. Palmer, General von Steuben, 169–70; Sunseri, “Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben”; Higginbotham, War, 247.
28. Martin, Narrative, 118.
29. On light troop doctrine in the Continental Army, see Wright, Continental Army, 149, and Wright, “Corps of Light Infantry.” Laf wasted no time pressing HL to support the new organization GW wanted. “With a great impatience I expect the arrangement of the army,” he said, “and I think a corps of three thousand grenadiers and chasseurs selected among our troops, schall be the very soul of all our succès and prouve of an infinite advantage.” Laf to HL, JUN 4, 1778, ILA 2:66–68. Grenadiers were veterans picked for their large size, originally to heave hand grenades. Those weapons had fallen out of use on land before Laf’s time, but the designation remained. Chasseurs were infantry or cavalry equipped and trained for quick movement.
30. Laf to PC, and to HL, both MAY 25, and marquis de Bouillé to Laf, MAR 8, 1778, ILA 2:55–59.
31. Laf to HL, MAY 29, 1778, ILA 2:59–60.
32. HL to Laf, MAY 29 and 31, and Laf to HL, JUN 1, 1778, ILA 2:260–61, 264–65.
33. Laf to de Francy, JUN 12, 1778, ILA 2:73–74.
34. Laf to HL, JUN 12, and to Adr, JUN 16, 1778, ILA 2:74–79.
35. HL to Laf, JUN 19, and Laf to HL, JUN 23, 1778, ILA 2:82, 84.
36. HL to Laf, JUL 18, and Laf to HL, JUL 23, 1778, ILA 2:108–10, 112–13; GW to GM, JUL 24, 1778, FGW 12:226–28.
37. GW to GM, AUG 20, 1778, FGW 12:340.
38. GW to William Gordon, JAN 23, 1778, FGW 10:337; Laf to HL, JUN 1, 1778, and Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:9, 64–65; Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 204–6.
39. Accounts of the Monmouth Campaign and battle include Martin, Philadelphia Campaign, 197–243; Taafe, Philadelphia Campaign, passim; Higginbotham, War, 245–47; and Boatner, 716–26.
40. Freeman, George Washington 5:10; GW to general officers, JUN 16, 1778, FGW 12:75–78; Laf to GW, JUN 17, 1778, ILA 2:79–81.
41. Freeman, George Washington 5:14.
42. Ibid., 15–16. This council of war should not be confused with the one held earlier.
43. Memoirs, quoted Unger, Lafayette, 77; Lancaster, From Lexington, 349; Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:9–10.
44. Nelson, Anthony Wayne, 77–78; Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:10; NG quoted Thayer, Nathanael Greene, 244; AH quoted Boatner, 717; Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 206–9.
45. Laf to GW, JUN 24, 1778, ILA 2:85–86; Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 209–10.
46. Laf to GW, JUN 24, 1778, ILA 2:85–86.
47. GW to Laf, JUN 25, 1778, ILA 2:87.
48. AH to Elias Boudinot, JUL 5, 1778, in Scheer and Rankin, Rebels and Redcoats, 328–29; Lee to GW, JUN 15, 1778, ILA 2:95n. AH was present at the meeting. Lee had been ribbed by Lord Stirling when Laf got the command, and that probably goaded him into approaching GW.
49. GW to Lee, and Laf to GW, both JUN 26, 1778, FGW 12:119–20, 425–26; GW to Laf, JUN 26, 1778, and Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:10, 94–95.
50. Laf to GW, JUN
25 and 26, 1778, ILA 2:87, 89–90; AH to Laf, JUN 25, 1778, SAH 1:503–4. Regarding “spirits,” eighteenth-century armies consumed quantities of alcohol that would amaze modern civilians. The only thing that would amaze modern soldiers was that in the old days the booze was issued, rather than bootleg. The Continental Army’s ration provided a gill (four ounces) of spirits or a quart of beer a day for each enlisted man. He also got a pint of vinegar. The liquor was usually rum, sometimes the new American whiskey. It was usually diluted, sometimes with hard cider, the latter making what was called “stonewall.” The beer could be either the thick malt brew of the day or spruce beer, made from green tips of spruce boughs. It tasted like turpentine, but the men got used to it; it prevented scurvy. Especially in New Jersey, soldiers enjoyed the local lightning, called “apple jack.” Other favorites included hot buttered rum, Royal Navy grog, “gin horror,” and makeshift punches. Beveridge, Cups, 3–8, 67–72. There were several reasons for the authorized consumption of alcohol. One was morale—regular soldiers had come to expect it for over a century. Another was that water supplies were notoriously unreliable and could flatten an army with “the soldiers’ disease” (dysentery). Alcoholic drinks were also assumed to have medicinal value. An extra ration of liquor was a popular reward for good performance. And last, it was easier to send men into battle if they had a buzz on.
51. Martin, Narrative, 110; GW to Laf, JUN 27, 1778, FGW 12:121, and ILA 2:91–92.
52. Laf to GW (three letters), JUN 26, and GW to Laf, JUN 26, 1778, ILA 2:90–94; Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 213–15, including AH to GW, JUN 26, 1778.
53. Laf to GW, JUN 26, 1778, ILA 2:95; Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 2:95; Freeman, George Washington 5:18–20.
54. Participants in the Battle of Monmouth Court House left accounts so conflicting that it seems nobody on the scene really knew how it played out. This account follows, unless otherwise noted, Freeman, George Washington 5:10–44; Martin, Philadelphia Campaign, 197–243; Taafe, Philadelphia Campaign, passim; Boatner, 716–25; Leckie, Wars 1:182–86; Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 219–25; and Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:10–11.
55. Martin, Narrative, 114.
56. Ibid., 110–11. Martin, 115, also related one of the battle’s most legendary tales: “A woman whose husband belonged to the artillery, and who was then attached to a piece in the engagement, attended with her husband at the piece the whole time; while in the act of reaching a cartridge and having one of her feet as far before the other as she could step, a cannon shot from the enemy passed directly between her legs without doing any other damage than carrying away all of the lower part of her petticoat,—looking at it with apparent unconcern, she observed, that it was lucky it did not pass a little higher, for in that case it might have carried away something else, and ended her and her occupation.” This was “Molly Pitcher,” a name given to several women who hauled water to gun crews during the war; cannons had to be swabbed to dampen sparks and consumed a lot of water. This Molly was Mary Ludwig Hayes, wife of a private. Scheer and Rankin, Rebels and Redcoats, 333; Boatner, 710–11.
57. See the quotations and analysis of this incident in Scheer and Rankin, Rebels and Redcoats, 330–31, and Boatner, 722.
58. Laf never said anything of the sort in Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:11, where he quotes Lee as saying, “You know that all this was against my advice.” He did later in Memoirs 1:26. AH’s exchange with Lee is quoted in Flexner, Young Hamilton, 231, from the court-martial transcript. JL told his father, “The general expressed his astonishment at this unaccountable retreat. Mr. Lee indecently replied that the attack was contrary to his advice and opinion in council.” JL to HL, JUN 30, 1778, in Townsend, American Soldier, 73. Scott’s account created the legend that GW blew his stack. Asked years later whether he had ever heard GW swear, he said, “Yes, once. It was at Monmouth and on a day that would have made any man swear. Yes, sir, he swore on that day till the leaves shook on the trees, charming, delightful. Never have I enjoyed such swearing before or since. Sir, on that ever-memorable day, he swore like an angel from Heaven.” Quoted Scheer and Rankin, Rebels and Redcoats, 330–31, which concludes that it is fiction.
59. AH to Elias Boudinot, JUL 5, 1778, in Morris, Alexander Hamilton Founding, 44.
60. Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:11.
61. McHenry to John Cox, JUL 1, 1778, in Scheer and Rankin, Rebels and Redcoats, 333.
62. Martin, Narrative, 112.
63. These figures are from Boatner, 725.
64. AW has acquired many biographies, including Nelson, Anthony Wayne, and Preston, Gentleman Rebel. See also Hugh F. Rankin, “Anthony Wayne: Military Romanticist,” in Billias, George Washington’s Generals, 260–90, and the sketch in Boatner, 1175–7.
65. GW to PC, JUL 1 and 3, and to BF, DEC 28, 1778, FGW 12:139–49, 13:459; William Watson to Rev. Joseph Lyman, JUL 11 (or 14), 1778, quoted Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 232.
66. Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:11.
67. Martin, Narrative, 115; General Orders, JUL 9, 1778, FGW 12:192.
68. Shy’s article on Lee in Billias, George Washington’s Generals, 45–47; Flexner, George Washington American, 311–16; and Boatner, 611–12.
69. AH’s account of the duel with JL in Morris, Alexander Hamilton Founding, 45–47. He died in a boardinghouse, and the dogs really did mourn him. According to Postmaster General Ebenezer Hazard, “General Lee died…after a few days’ illness, in some degree his own physician and but badly attended, except by two faithful dogs, who frequently attempted in vain to awaken their dead master. They laid themselves down by his corpse for a considerable time, so long that it became necessary for new masters to remove them.” He was buried in an Anglican churchyard with full military honors, despite his demand in his will that he not be buried “in any church or churchyard, or within a mile of any Presbyterian or Anabaptist meetinghouse. For since I have resided in this country, I have had so much bad company when living that I do not choose to continue it when dead.” Scheer and Rankin, Rebels and Redcoats, 499–500.
70. Laf to HL, JUL 6, 1778, ILA 2:98–99.
Chapter Eight
1. All quoted Mahan, Influence, 371; see also 375, and Boatner, 349–50. In French measures, d’Estaing’s oscillating height would have been about five-foot-ten to six feet. Under the Ordonnance of 1765, flag ranks in the French navy (followed by their British equivalents) were amiral (admiral), vice-amiral (vice admiral), lieutenant-général des armées navales (rear admiral), and chef d’escadre (commodore). Charles de la Roncière, Histoire de la Marine Française (1934), cited by Morison, John Paul Jones, 132n. Commanders of all these ranks figured in the American Revolution and associated conflict with Britain.
2. Higginbotham, War, 248; Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 236–40; Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:13; Des quoted Unger, Lafayette, 80.
3. Laf to Boudinot, JUL 15 and 25, 1778, ILA 2:107–8, 117.
4. Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:13. Laf did not admit in 1779 that he had used Des, but that is clear from the letters he wrote.
5. Laf to Des, JUL 14, 1778, ILA 2:102–6. JL was just two years older than Laf.
6. GW to Laf, JUL 22, 1778, ILA 2:110–11.
7. Laf to JS, JUL 22, 1778, ILA 2:111.
8. GW to Laf, and to PC, both JUL 22, 1778, FGW 12:204, 211; Laf to JS, JUL 22 and 24, and to Des, JUL 22 and 24, 1778, in Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 240–41. Laf to JS, JUL 22, and to Des, JUL 24 (quotation), are in ILA 2:111, 113–15. The second letter to Des was one of the first Laf ever did in cipher. “I beg you to excuse the clumsiness and the scribbling of my ciphers. I am new at this business, and I fear I have rendered them almost as unintelligible to you as to Mylord Howe.” ILA 2:115.
9. Laf to JS, JUL 24, 1778, quoted Thayer, Fighting Quaker, 140; Laf to GW, JUL 25, 1778, GLW 53; Laf to JS and to GW, both JUL 28, 1778, ILA 2:119–21. Others in this period are in ILA 2:112–21.
10. GW to Laf, and to JS, both JUL 27, 1778, and Laf to GW, JUL 25 and 28, 1778, FGW 12:236–38.
1
1. Laf to GW, AUG 6, and GW to Laf, AUG 10, 1778, ILA 2:1320–33, 136–37.
12. Laf to JS and to Des, and Des to Laf, all JUL 30, 1778, ILA 2:122–27; Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 244–45; Freeman, George Washington, 5:65.
13. Quoted Tower, 1:439; Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 244–45.
14. JL quoted Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 246–48; Laf, Memoir of 1779, Laf to Des, AUG 5 and 8, 1778, ILA 2:14, 128–31, 134–45.
15. Amory, Military Services, 74; JL to HL, AUG 22, 1778, quoted Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 249.
16. Laf to Des, AUG 10, 1778, ILA 2:135–36.
17. Mahan, Influence, 362–63; Higginbotham, War, 248; Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:14.
18. Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:14.
19. Quoted Greene, Nathanael Greene 2:117; Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 250–52; Golway, Washington’s General, 188–89.
20. Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 250-53; Golway, Washington’s General, 188–89.
21. NG quoted Thane, Fighting Quaker, 146; Laf to Des, AUG 21, 1778, ILA 2:137–38.
22. JS and others to Des, AUG 21, 1778, ILA 2:141n.
23. Laf to Des, AUG 22, 1778, ILA 2:139. Major Perez Morton said that “one of our genl. officers in the course of the debates in council took occasion from the Count’s conduct to reflect on the [French] nation at large. The Marquiss was very particular in enquiring his name, family; & rank and determines to call him to an account for it.” Morton to James Bowdoin Jr., AUG 25, 1778, ILA 2:141n.
24. Tower 1:474–75, 478; Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:14–15.
25. Quoted ILA 2:154n.
26. Laf to Des, AUG 24, 1778, and Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:15, 141–42.
27. Laf to Des, AUG 24, 1778, ILA 2:142–46. See also Laf to Des, AUG 25, 1778, ILA 2:148–49.
28. Laf to JS, AUG 24, 1778, ILA 2:147–48; NG to GW, AUG 28, 1778, quoted Stinchcombe, American Revolution and French Alliance, 52, see also 50–53; Greene, Life of Greene 2:127.
29. Laf to GW, AUG 25, 1778, ILA 2:149–53. He repeated some of this, less personally, in letters to General William Heath, AUG 23, and to AH, AUG 26, ILA 2:154n, in both of which he asked for all to help Des’ repairs. Laf to HL, AUG 26, ILA 2:156n, reproduced his statements to GW more fully. The letter from NG has disappeared. ILA 2:155n. Laf began a series of letters in French to AH, whom he called “cher colonel,” repeating news that he told others in English. Laf to AH, AUG 26 and SEP 12, 1778, and from France SEP 12, 1779, SAH 1:537–43, 2:169–70.