Adopted Son

by David A Clary

  30. Resolution of Congress, AUG 28, 1778, ILA 2:254n; GW to General William Heath (Boston), to Governor George Clinton (New York), and to JS, all AUG 28, 1778, FGW 12:364–69.

  31. GW to JS, AUG 28, 1778, FGW 12:369.

  32. NG to GW, AUG 28, 1778, quoted ILA 2:154n; Thane, Fighting Quaker, 148.

  33. Laf to NG, SEP 1, 1778, FGW 12:386–87.

  34. Higginbotham, War, 249; Laf to GW, SEP 1, 1778, ILA 2:162–64.

  35. Laf to GW, SEP 1, 1778, and Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:15, 162–64; JS to PC, AUG 31, 1778, Tower 1:490.

  36. JS to PC, AUG 31, 1778, Tower 1:490; Laf, Memoir of 1779, and to GW, SEP 1, 1778, ILA 2:15, 162–64; Boatner, 792–93. American losses on the twenty-ninth were 30 killed, 137 wounded, and 44 missing. Casualties among the British, Hessians, and Tories were 38 killed, 210 wounded, and 12 missing. Some losses on both sides were to heatstroke. Boatner, 793.

  37. JS to PC, AUG 31, 1778, Tower 1:490; Laf, Memoir of 1779, and to GW, SEP 1, 1778, ILA 2:15, 162–64.

  38. Laf to Des, AUG 31, 1778, ILA 2:156–60.

  39. Laf to GW, SEP 1, 1778, ILA 2:162–64.

  40. GW to GM, JUL 24, 1778, ILA 2:115–17; CW, 46–48.

  41. GW to Laf, SEP 1, 1778, ILA 2:164–66.

  42. Laf to Des, SEP 5, 1778, ILA 2:166–68.

  43. GW to Des, SEP 11, 1778, SGW 6:57; Congress quoted Tower 1:494; NG to Des, SEP 23, 1778, quoted Unger, Lafayette, 85.

  44. Resolution of SEP 9, and HL to Laf, SEP 13, 1778, ILA 2:172. Laf replied to HL, “Be so good, Sir, as to present to Congress my plain and hearty thanks, with the frank assurances of a candid attachement, the only one worth being offered to the representatives of a free people. The moment I heard of America, I lov’d her. The moment I knew she was fighting for freedom, I burnt with the desire of bleeding for her—and the moment I schall be able of serving her in any time or any part of the world, will be among the happiest ones in my life.” Laf to PC, SEP 23, 1778, ILA 2:180. This hogwash impressed the members, who did not know he was looking for a way to return to the French army.

  45. GW to JS, SEP 11, 1778, SGW 6:44.

  46. Unger, John Hancock, 277; Higginbotham, War, 248.

  47. Laf to Des, SEP 8, 1778, ILA 2:169–70.

  48. Laf to d’Ayen, SEP 11, to Adr, SEP 13, and to Des, SEP 21, 1778, ILA 2:172–77.

  49. Gérard quoted ILA 2:195n; Des to Sartine, NOV 5, 1778, ILA 2:202–3. Among the hardships: “One becomes accustomed to using a knife as a spoon, doing without napkins, drinking to the health of ten persons with each drop one swallows, quenching one’s thirst with grog (a liquor composed of a little bad brandy, water, and sugar), keeping the most somber table in the world,” and so on.

  50. Laf to GW, SEP 21, 1778, ILA 2:177–79.

  51. GW to Laf, SEP 25, 1778, ILA 2:182–85.

  52. Laf to GW, SEP 28, 1778, ILA 2:185–86.

  53. Pennsylvania Packet, SEP 12, 1778, quoted ILA 2:182n.

  54. Laf to Des, SEP 13, and to GW, SEP 24, 1778, ILA 2:181–82.

  55. GW to Laf, OCT 4, and Des to GW, SEP 25 and OCT 20, 1778, ILA 2:186–87.

  56. Laf to Carlisle, OCT 5, and Carlisle to Laf, OCT 11, 1778, ILA 2:187, 189.

  57. Laf to Des, OCT 20, and to GW, OCT 24, 1778, ILA 2:191–92, 195.

  58. Laf to Des, JUL 14, 1778, ILA 2:102–6; Declaration quoted Unger, Lafayette, 91.

  59. Dull, Diplomatic History, 114–15; Higginbotham, War, 249; Orville T. Murphy, “The View from Versailles: Charles Gravier Comte de Vergennes’ Perceptions of the American Revolution,” in Hoffman and Albert, Diplomacy and Revolution, 107–49.

  60. Laf to GW, SEP 3, 1778, GLW 64; GW to Laf, SEP 25, 1778, FGW 12:502–3.

  61. Quoted Townsend, American Soldier, 104.

  62. GW to PC, SEP 12 and NOV 11, and to HL, NOV 14, 1778, FGW 13:223–44, 254, 257; GW to Laf, SEP 25, and Laf to PC, OCT 16, and to GW, OCT 24, 1778, ILA 2:182–85, 195, 196n.

  63. Laf to PC, NOV 29, 1778, ILA 2:205–7; GW to PC, NOV 11, 1778, FGW 13:223–44.

  64. Laf to Timothy Bedel, DEC 18, 1778, ILA 2:211–15.

  65. PC to Laf, JAN 3, 1779, ILA 2:217; Gottschalk, Lafayette Close, 4.

  66. GW to PC, OCT 6, 1778, FGW 13:40.

  67. Laf to PC, OCT 13, 1778, ILA 2:190.

  68. Laf to Des, OCT 20, 1778, ILA 2:191–92.

  69. PC to Laf, OCT 24, Laf to PC, OCT 26, and Congress to King of France, OCT 21, 1778, ILA 2:193–94, 195n.

  70. Laf, Instructions to William Carmichael, NOV-DEC 1778, and Carmichael to BF, OCT 30, 1778, ILA 2:199–200, 207–9. Before he left the country, Laf learned that Carmichael had been elected to Congress from Maryland. He still wanted to hear from him. Laf to Carmichael, DEC 30, 1778, ILA 2:215–16.

  71. GW to BF, DEC 29 [28], 1778, FGW 13:459; TP to BF, OCT 24, 1777 [1778], LBF 27:618–20. Both letters were misdated in the originals. See also HL to Laf, DEC 6, 1778, ILA 2:209–10.

  72. Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 304–6; Callahan, Daniel Morgan, 175–76; Laf to DM, NOV 28, 1778, ILA 2:204.

  73. GW to Laf, DEC 28, 1778, FGW 13:459–61.

  74. Laf to GW, JAN 5, 1779, ILA 2:217–19. On the seventh, he urged GW to ask the French to send an army to America, and “I also intreat your friendship not to forget writing to me…letters from you will make me extremely happy.” Laf to GW, JAN 7, 1779, GLW 73. On the ninth he told Congress that “keeping a frigatte without sailing when she is ready does wrong to her and to the public.” Laf to PC, JAN 9, 1779, ILA 2:220–21.

  75. Laf to GW, JAN 11, 1779, GLW 73–74.

  76. Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:18. This continued to appear in the later versions of the Memoirs.

  Chapter Nine

  1. Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:225–26; Allen, Naval History 2:439–40; Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 326. The prisoners were later exchanged for Frenchmen held by the British.

  2. Schama, Citizens, 29–32, 40; Gottschalk, Lafayette Joins, 327–32.

  3. Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:226; Gottschalk, Lafayette and Close, 1–3; Maurois, Adrienne, 74–75.

  4. Adr to Mlle du Motier and Mme de Chavaniac, FEB 16, 1779, quoted Maurois, Adrienne, 75.

  5. Laf wrote as many personal letters to Ver as official ones, and Ver was always indulgent. “Why should you reproach yourself, Monsieur le Marquis, for having written me about your affairs?” he began one letter. “I assure you that you could not have confided them to anyone whose interest in them would be more lively and genuine than my own. The only trouble they could cause me is that I am not always able to respond to your trust and contribute to your satisfaction as much as I would like.” Ver to Laf, SEP 16, 1779, ILA 2:311–12. Ver knew, as the youngster did not, that politics is the art of the possible. Laf often asked BF to explain the mysteries of the planet. “You ask my opinion what conduct the English will probably hold on this occasion,” BF began one reply, “& whether they will not rather propose a negotiation for a peace: I have but one rule to go by in defining of those people: which is, that whatever is prudent for them to do, they will omit; and what is most imprudent to be done, they will do it. This like other general rules, may sometimes have its exceptions; but I think it will hold good for the most part.” BF to Laf, AUG 19, 1779, ILA 2:302–3. BF knew, as Laf did not, that people are not always consistent, but they make the world an interesting place. See also Hale and Hale, Franklin, 301–5.

  6. Gottschalk, Lafayette and Close, 3–4; JA to Samuel Adams, FEB 14, and Mme du Deffand to Horace Walpole, FEB 17, 1779, ILA 2:231n.

  7. Maurois, Adrienne, 76. The writer was Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve.

  8. Laf to BF, FEB 13–14, and to Ver, FEB 14, 1779, ILA 2:228–30.

  9. Laf to Louis XVI, FEB 19, 1779, ILA 2:232, 234.

  10. Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:226.

  11. Gottschalk, Lafayette and Close, 5–7, 77; Unger, Lafayette, 96–98.

  12. Laf, Memoir of 1779, ILA 2:226.

  13. Schoenbrun, Triumph in Paris, 238–75; Gottschalk, Lafayette and Close, 7–8; Laf to BF, FEB 21 a
nd MAR 7, 1779, ILA 2:234, 237.

  14. Laf to JA, and JA to Laf, both FEB 21, 1779, ILA 2:234–26.

  15. Biographies include Morison, John Paul Jones; Thomas, John Paul Jones; and Thomson, Knight of the Seas. The phrase “in harm’s way” was coined by JPJ. “I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast,” he wrote on NOV 16, 1778; “for I intend to go in harm’s way.”

  16. Laf to Maurepas, MAR 14, and to BF, MAR 20, 1779, ILA 2:238–41. Laf approached the Swedish ambassador about the loan of Swedish ships for the expedition; the Swedes agreed on the condition France would guarantee the costs. Laf to Ver, APR 26 and JUL 9, 1779, ILA 2:256–57.

  17. BF to Laf, MAR 22, 1779, ILA 2:243–44.

  18. Laf to Maurepas, MAR 23, to Ver, MAR 26 and APR 1, and to BF, MAR 31, 1779, ILA 2:244–53.

  19. Laf to Montbarey, APR 14, to Sartine, APR 15–20, and to Ver, APR 26 and JUL 18, and Sartine to BF, APR 20, and to JPJ, APR 27, 1779, ILA 2:254–57, 255n.

  20. BF to JPJ, and Laf to JPJ, both APR 27, and JPJ to Laf, MAY 1, 1779, ILA 2:258–62, 264; JPJ’s letter book in the National Archives, JPJ to Laf and to BF, both APR 27, 1779, cited Morison, John Paul Jones, 188, and JPJ to Laf, MAY 1, 1779, quoted Thomas, John Paul Jones, 159, and Gottschalk, Lafayette and Close, 14; Allen, Naval History 2:439–88; Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin, 389–90.

  21. JPJ to Leray de Chaumont, APR 30, Laf to BF, MAY 19, to PC, JUN 12, and to Ver, MAY 23 and JUL 1, 1779, ILA 2:263, 265, 268–69, 272–75, 284–87; Laf to Maurepas (quoting his earlier statement back to him), JAN 25, 1780, Tower 2:500; Gottschalk, Lafayette and Close, 9–10, 18–20.

  22. Laf to JPJ, MAY 22, 1779, ILA 2:267; Gottschalk, Lafayette and Close, 18.

  23. GW’s letter to Laf on DEC 29, 1778, reached Boston after Laf sailed in JAN. GW enclosed duplicates in his to Laf of MAR 8 and again on OCT 20, 1779, the latter including a copy of one he wrote on SEP 30. He wrote on MAR 27 to introduce George Mason Jr., and on JUL 4 summarizing the military situation. There was also a short note on SEP 12, but the first letter Laf received was the one of OCT 20. FGW 13:459–61, 14:218–22, 15:369–70, 16:267–69, 491–94; ILA 2:381n.

  24. Laf to Ver, JUN 1, 1779, ILA 2:270–71; Laf to Ver, JUN 10, 1779, quoted Gottschalk, Lafayette and Close, 24–25.

  25. Laf to PC, JUN 12, 1779, ILA 2:272–75; see also Laf to HL, JUN 11–13, 1779, ILA 2:276n.

  26. GW to Laf, SEP 30, 1779, FGW 16:371-72.

  27. JA and Congress quoted ILA 2:281n. Lee tried to enlist Laf on his side in the disputes with BF and others, but Laf stayed out of it. Besides, he was friends with BF. Arthur Lee to Laf, JUL 9, 1779, ILA 2:289-90.

  28. Laf to GW, JUN 12, 1779, ILA 2:276-81. As aide maréchal général des logis, Laf was assistant to the maréchal général des logis, Charles-Léopold Chazel, marquis de Jaucourt, who ranked as maréchal de camp (field marshal). The office combined some of the functions of quartermaster general in the American service with the duties of a topographical engineer. Jaucourt located camps, artillery parks, hospitals, and supply depots, quartered the troops and officers, and set up headquarters, and also selected the route of march. Regarding whether it was Congress or the emissaries Laf complained about, the copy in GW’s papers substitutes the phrase “prevent the Congress from disputing” for “prevent theyr disputing.” Whether the change was Laf’s or the editor’s is not clear. FGW 16:371n.

  29. Gottschalk, Lafayette and Close, 22-30.

  30. Ibid., 31-33; Laf to Ver, JUN 24, 1779, ILA 2:283-84. Luz congratulated him on his appointment as aide maréchal, which he thought would be good for allied relations. “I hope this campaign’s operations will be active enough to enable you to consolidate in Europe the glory you have acquired in America,” he said. “One means of consoling the Americans for the enormous loss they experienced when you left them will be to make them see how usefully you are serving the cause in Europe.” Luz to Laf, JUN 17, 1779, ILA 2:282–83.

  31. Laf to Ver, JUL 1, 3, and 18, and to BF, JUL 12, 1779, ILA 2:284–88, 289n, 291–92; Gottschalk, Lafayette and Close, 37–38.

  32. Laf to Ver, JUL 30, 1779, ILA 2:292–95.

  33. Gottschalk, Lafayette and Close, 38–47.

  34. BF to Laf, AUG 24, Laf to BF, AUG 29, and to William Temple Franklin, SEP 7, 1779, ILA 2:303–8; Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin, 385–86.

  35. Higginbotham, War, 352–57; Boatner, 1062–7.

  36. Letter of SEP 12, 1779, in Chinard, Washington as French, 77. Barbé-Marbois’ journal has been published in Noel, “Our Revolutionary Forefathers.”

  37. GW to Laf, SEP 30, 1779, ILA 2:313–18, and FGW 16:369–73.

  38. Laf to Ver, and Laf, Formation of Proposed Detachment to America, both AUG 13, Laf to Ver, AUG 16 and SEP 11, Laf to BF, AUG 17, BF to Laf, AUG 19, Laf to William Temple Franklin, SEP 14, and Ver to Laf, SEP 16, 1779, ILA 2:299–303, 309–12; Hale and Hale, Franklin, 301–5.

  39. Orville T. Murphy, “The View from Versailles: Charles Gravier Comte de Vergennes’ Perceptions of the American Revolution,” in Hoffman and Albert, Diplomacy and Revolution, 107–49; Dull, French Navy, 154–56; Corwin, French Policy, 187–88; Bonsal, When French, 3–4.

  40. Laf to PC, OCT 7, 1779, ILA 2:320–22. At about this time Laf heard rumors that there might be peace negotiations between the United States and Britain. He volunteered to serve as an American ambassador. There was nothing to the rumors, however. Laf to BF, OCT 11, and BF to Laf, OCT 19, 1779, ILA 2:325–27, 327n. BF liked the idea, which would reemerge later.

  41. Laf to GW, OCT 7, 1779, ILA 2:232–25.

  42. Gottschalk, Lafayette and Close, 52–53.

  43. Laf to BF, NOV 2 and 9, and BF to Laf, NOV 10, 1779, ILA 2:334–35, 337–38, 339n.

  44. Laf to BF, DEC 6, 1779, ILA 2:339; Laf to Ver, DEC 10, 1779, quoted Gottschalk, Lafayette and Close, 56; BF to Joshua Johnson, DEC 29, 1779, ILA 2:339n.

  45. Adr to Laf, DEC 24, 1779, ILA 2:340. Adr erroneously dated this letter from Passy, which was where Laf was. Laf’s letters to Adr during this period have disappeared. ILA 2:340n.

  46. Laf to BF, and to JA, both DEC 24, 1779, ILA 2:341, 341n. He was baptized Georges-Louis-Gilbert-Washington du Motier, marquis de La Fayette, but he called himself George-Washington Lafayette.

  47. Laf to Ver, and to BF, both JAN 9, 1780, ILA 2:341–42; Gottschalk, Lafayette and Close, 58–60.

  48. Laf to Maurepas, and to Ver, both JAN 25, 1780, ILA 2:344–50.

  49. Laf to Ver, FEB 2, 1780, ILA 2:350–52.

  50. Whitridge, Rochambeau, passim and 70–74.

  51. Laf, Observations on Military Clothing, FEB 12, JA to Laf, FEB 18, Laf to JA, FEB 19, and Laf, Observations on Matters Pertaining to the Navy for an Expedition to North America, FEB 21, 1780, ILA 2:353–57.

  52. Laf to BF, FEB 24 and 29, BF to Laf, MAR 2, 1780, ILA 2:358–61, 360n. Laf departed from Congress’ specifications for uniforms, sending his own to French suppliers, causing manufacturing problems. Jonathan Williams to BF, FEB 19, 1780, ILA 2:361n. A stand is a complete set of arms for one soldier (e.g., musket, bayonet, ramrod, flint, strap, etc.).

  53. JA to HL, FEB 27, 1780, Wharton 3:524–26.

  54. ILA 2:367n; Higginbotham, War, 235–36.

  55. Maurois, Adrienne, 82; Gottschalk, Lafayette and Close, 67, 72–73.

  56. BF to GW, MAR 5, and to PC, MAR 4, 1780, Wharton, 3:534–38.

  57. Laf to Montbarey, MAR 4, 1780, and added material, ILA 2:363–64, 363n, 364n.

  58. Ver, Instructions to Laf, MAR 5, 1780, ILA 2:364–67.

  59. Maurois, Adrienne, 82–86, samples the letters; Laf to Adr, MAR 8 and 18, to prince de Poix, MAR 12, to Pierre-François Mareuil de Villebois, MAR 11, and to BF, MAR 20, 1780, ILA 2:373–80.

  Chapter Ten

  1. Laf to prince de Poix, MAY 4, 1780, ILA 3:6–8; Gottschalk, Lady in Waiting, 100–2, 128–29. Gottschalk bases his conclusion that Aglaé was the other young woman on Laf’s letter to her of MAR 27, 1783. They connected after he returned to France the second time.
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  2. Laf to Noailles, OCT 3 and 23, 1780, ILA 3:180–86, 204–5.

  3. Laf to prince de Poix, OCT 14, 1780, ILA 3:200–1.

  4. De Kalb quoted Risch, Quartermaster Support, 62.

  5. Both quoted Lancaster, From Lexington to Liberty, 380–81; Golway, Washington’s General, 209–20.

  6. Martin, Narrative, 248; James Fairlie to Charles Tillinghast, JAN 12, 1780, in Ryan, Salute to Courage, 178; SGW 4:50.

  7. Golway, Washington’s General, 209–20; Palmer, General von Steuben, 220–26; FVS to GW, MAR 28, 1780, Sparks 2:420–22.

  8. Laf to GW, APR 27, 1780, ILA 3:3.

  9. Laf to Adr, MAY nd and 6, to Ver, MAY 2, to prince de Poix, MAY 4, and to Massachusetts General Assembly, MAY 2, 1780, ILA 3:3–10, 10n. Samuel Cooper said, “As his arrival diffused a general joy, every expression of it was given here that circumstances would allow, and particular respects were paid by the government as well as the people at large to this prudent and gallant young nobleman who keeps the cause of America so warm at his heart.” Cooper to JA, MAY 23, 1780, ILA 3:10n.

  10. GW to Laf, MAY 8, 1780, ILA 3:10–11.

  11. AH and Memoirs quoted Unger, Lafayette, 114.

  12. Gottschalk, Lafayette and Close, 86–88.

  13. GW to Laf, MAY 19, Laf to Luz, and Laf, Proclamation to the Canadians, both MAY 25, 1780, ILA 3:24–25, 35–38.

  14. GW to Luz, MAY 11, and to Laf, MAY 16, 1780, FGW 18:348, 369; GW to PC, MAY 13, 1780, ILA 3:11; GW to PC, MAY 13, 1780, SGW 7:50.

  15. Laf to PC, MAY 16, and Resolution of MAY 16, 1780, ILA 3:13, 13n.

  16. See GW to George Clinton, MAY 18, 1780, FGW 18:383–84; Wharton 3:683–84; ILA 3:25n. Typical appeals include Laf to Samuel Adams, MAY 30, and to Joseph Reed, MAY 31, 1780, ILA 3:41–44. Each letter was tailored to the recipient’s personal vanity, to the history of his home state, and to the need for supplies. Mrs. Joseph Reed started a campaign in Philadelphia to raise money to clothe the soldiers, and Lafayette sent 100 guineas in Adrienne’s name. “We are much less ashamed of our nakedness because it proves the virtue and patriotism of the American army; but since it does not speak highly of the public we are serving, you would be well advised to recommend to your friends in Congress to devise a way to cloathe the officers of their army.” Laf to Esther De Berdt Reed, JUN 25, and to Luz, JUN 20, 1780, ILA 3:56–57, 61–62.