which I will not miss by any means, even should I be afraid of becoming
tedious and troublesome; but if they have sent me far from you, I don't
know for what purpose, at least I must make some little use of my pen,
to prevent all communication from being cut off between your excellency
and myself. I have written lately to you my distressing, ridiculous,
foolish, and, indeed, nameless situation. I am sent, with a great noise,
at the head of an army for doing great things; the whole continent,
France and Europe herself, and what is the worse, the British army, are
in great expectations. How far they will be deceived, how far we shall
be ridiculed, you may judge by the candid account you have got of the
state of our affairs.
There are things, I dare say, in which I am deceived--a certain colonel
is not here for nothing: one other gentleman became very popular before
I went to this place; Arnold himself is very fond of him. Every part on
which I turn to look I am sure a cloud is drawn before my eyes; however,
there are points I cannot be deceived upon. The want of money, the
dissatisfaction among the soldiers, the disinclination of every one
(except the Canadians, who mean to stay at home) for this expedition,
are as conspicuous as possible; however, I am sure I will become very
ridiculous, and laughed at. _My expedition_ will be as famous as the
_secret expedition_ against Rhode Island. I confess, my dear general,
that I find myself of very quick feelings whenever my reputation and
glory are concerned in anything. It is very hard indeed that such a part
of my happiness, without which I cannot live, should depend upon schemes
which I never knew of but when there was no time to put them into
execution. I assure you, my most dear and respected friend, that I am
more unhappy than I ever was.
My desire of doing something was such, that I have thought of doing
it by surprise with a detachment, but it seems to me rash and quite
impossible. I should be very happy if you were here to give me some
advice; but I have nobody to consult with. They have sent to me more
than twenty French officers; I do not know what to do with them; I beg
you will acquaint me the line of conduct you advise me to follow on
every point. I am at a loss how to act, and indeed I do not know what I
am here for myself. However, as being the eldest officer, (after General
Arnold has desired me to take the command,) I think it is my duty to
mind the business of this part of America as well as I can. General
Gates holds yet the title and power of commander-in-chief of the
Northern department; but, as two hundred thousand dollars are arrived,
I have taken upon myself to pay the most necessary part of the debts we
are involved in. I am about sending provisions to Fort Schuyller: I will
go to see the fort. I will try to get some clothes for the troops, to
buy some articles for the next campaign. I have directed some money
to be borrowed upon my credit to satisfy the troops, who are much
discontented. In all, I endeavour to do for the best, though I have no
particular authority or instructions; and I will come as near as I can
to General Gates's intentions, but I want much to get an answer to my
letters.
I fancy (between us) that the actual scheme is to have me out of this
part of the continent, and General Conway in chief, under the immediate
direction of General Gates. How they will bring it up I do not know, but
you may be sure something of that kind will appear. You are nearer than
myself, and every honest man in congress is your friend; therefore you
may foresee and prevent, if possible, the evil a hundred times better
than I can: I would only give that idea to your excellency.
After having written in Europe (by the desire of the members of
congress) so many fine things about my commanding an army, I shall be
ashamed if nothing can be done by me in that way. I am told General
Putnam is recalled; but your excellency knows better than I do what
would be convenient, therefore I don't want to mind these things myself.
Will you be so good as to present my respects to your lady. With the
most tender affection and highest respect, I have the honour to be,
LAFAYETTE.
FROM GENERAL WASHINGTON TO THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.
(ORIGINAL.)
Head Quarters, 10th March, 1778.
MY DEAR MARQUIS,--I have had the pleasure of receiving your two favours
of the 19th and 23rd of February, and hasten to dispel those fears
respecting your reputation, which are excited only by an uncommon degree
of sensibility. You seem to apprehend that censure, proportioned to the
disappointed expectations of the world, will fall on you in consequence
of the failure of the Canadian expedition. But, in the first place, it
will be no disadvantage to you to have it known in Europe that you
had received so manifest a proof of the good opinion and confidence of
congress as an important detached command; and I am persuaded that every
one will applaud your prudence in renouncing a project, in pursuing
which you would vainly have attempted physical impossibilities; indeed,
unless you can be chargeable with the invariable effects of natural
causes, and be arraigned for not suspending the course of the seasons,
to accommodate your march over the lake, the most prompt to slander can
have nothing to found blame upon.
However sensibly your ardour for glory may make you feel this
disappointment, you may be assured that your character stands as fair
as ever it did, and that no new enterprise is necessary to wipe off this
imaginary stain. The expedition which you hint at I think unadvisable in
our present circumstances. Anything in the way of a formal attack, which
would necessarily be announced to the enemy by preparatory measures,
would not be likely to succeed. If a stroke is meditated in that
quarter, it must be effected by troops stationed at a proper distance
for availing themselves of the first favourable opportunity offered by
the enemy, and success would principally depend upon the suddenness
of the attempt. This, therefore, must rather be the effect of time and
chance than premeditation. You undoubtedly have determined judiciously
in waiting the further orders of congress. Whether they allow me the
pleasure of seeing you shortly, or destine you to a longer absence, you
may assure yourself of the sincere good wishes of,
Dear Sir, &c.
P. S. Your directing payment of such debts as appear to be most pressing
is certainly right. There is not money enough to answer every demand;
and I wish your supplies of clothing had been better. Your ordering
a large supply of provisions into Fort Schuyler was a very judicious
measure, and I thank you for it.
TO BARON DE STEUBEN.
(ORIGINAL--A FRAGMENT.)
Albany, March 12th.
Permit me to express my satisfaction at your having seen General
Washington. No enemies to that great man can be found except among the
enemies to his country; nor is it possible for any man of a noble spirit
to refrain from loving the excellent qualities of his heart. I think I
know him as well as any person, and such is the idea which I have formed
of him; his honesty, his frankness, his sensibility, his virtue, to the
full extent in which this word can be understood, are above all praise.
It is not for me to judge of his military talents; but, according to my
imperfect knowledge of these matters, his advice in council has always
appeared to me the best, although his modesty prevents him sometimes
from sustaining it; and his predictions have generally been fulfilled.
I am the more happy in giving you this opinion of my friend with all
the sincerity which I feel, because some persons may perhaps attempt to
deceive you on this point.
FRAGMENT OF A LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.
(ORIGINAL.)
Albany, 20th March, 1778.
... His Excellency General Washington will, I believe, mention to
congress that, at the request of the commissioners of Indian affairs, I
send Colonel Gouvion, and have given proper directions for the building
of a small fort, which they and myself have thought very necessary to
be granted to the Oneydas. The love of the French blood, mixed with the
love of some French _Louis d'or_, have engaged those Indians to promise
they would come with me.~[1]
As I am very certain the Congress of the United States will not propose
anything to me but consistent with my feelings and the sentiment
I flatter myself to have obtained from them, I can assure them, by
advance, that any post they will give, any disposition they will make,
with such manners, will be cheerfully received and complied to by me
with acknowledgment. However, I will beg leave to say, that any command,
whatever honourable it may be, where I would not be so near the danger
or occasions of doing something, I shall always look upon as not suited
to me.
I never mentioned to congress a long letter I have written, four months
ago, to France, about a project for the East Indies, to which I expect
the answer. Was I to succeed in my expectation, it would bring, soon,
that so much desired French war, in spite of some peaceful men, and
be of some use to the noble cause of freedom, without bringing the
continent in any expense.
With the greatest respect, I have the honour to be, &c.
Footnote:
1. M. de Lafayette, during this journey, some curious relations with
the Indian, in a letter of the 27th of February, to General Washington,
which, being void of interest in other respects, has been suppressed.
It appears that he was solicited by General Schuyler to be present at a
numerous meeting of Indians, convoked for a treaty. The traces of those
communications will be found further.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
(ORIGINAL.)
Albany, 25th March, 1778.
Dear General,--How happy I have been in receiving your excellency's
favour of the tenth present; I hope you will be convinced by the
knowledge of my tender affection for you. I am very sensible of that
goodness which tries to dissipate my fears about that ridiculous
Canadian expedition. At the present time we know which was the aim
of the honourable board, and for which project three or four men have
rushed the country into a great expense, and risked the reputation
of our arms, and the life of many hundred men, had the general, your
deceived friend, been as rash and foolish as they seem to have expected.
O, American freedom, what shall become of you if you are in such hands?
I have received a letter from the board and a resolve of congress,~[1]
by which you are directed to recall me and the Baron de Kalb, whose
presence is deemed absolutely necessary to your army. I believe this of
General Conway is _absolutely necessary_ to Albany, and he has received
orders to stay there, which I have no objection to, as nothing, perhaps,
will be done in this quarter but some disputes of Indians and tories.
However, you know I have wrote to congress, and as soon as their leave
will come, I shall let Conway have the command of these few regiments,
and I shall immediately join my respectable friend; but till I have
received instructions for leaving that place from yourself, I shall
stay, as powerful commander-in-chief, as if congress had never resolved
my presence absolutely necessary for the great army.
Since your last letter, I have given up the idea of New York, and
my only desire is to join you. The only favour I have asked of your
commissioners in France, has been, not to be under any orders but those
of General Washington. I seem to have had an anticipation of our future
friendship, and what I have done out of esteem and respect for your
excellency's name and reputation, I should do now out of mere love
for General Washington himself. I am glad to hear General Greene is
quarter-master-general; it is very interesting to have there an honest
man and a friend of yours. But I feel the greatest pain not to hear
anything about reinforcements. What can you do with a handful of
men,--and my poor division, whom I was so desirous of instructing,
clothing, managing myself in the winter, whom, I was told, I should
find six thousand strong at the opening of the campaign? Don't your
excellency think that I could recruit a little in General Greene's
division now that he is quarter-master-general? By that promotion I find
myself very proud to be the third officer of your army.
With the utmost respect and affection, I have the honour to be, &c.
Footnote:
1. That congress entertain a high sense of his prudence, activity, and
zeal, and that they are fully persuaded nothing has or would have been
wanting on his part, or on the part of his officers who accompanied him,
to give the expedition the utmost possible effect.--(Secret Journal,
March 2.)
TO MADAME DE LAFAYETTE.
Valley Forge Camp, in Pennsylvania, April 14th, 1778.
If thirty opportunities were to present themselves at once, my dearest
love, you may rest assured that I would write thirty letters; and that,
if you do not receive any news from me, I have nothing, at least, to
reproach myself with. This letter will be accompanied by others, saying
nearly the same things, and having nearly the same date; but accidents
are unfortunately very common, and by this means, some letters may reach
you safely. Respecting your own, my love, I prefer accusing fate, the
waves, Lord Howe, and the devil, to suspecting you for one moment of
negligence. I am convinced that you will not allow a single opportunity
to escape of writing to me; but I should feel, if possible, still more
so, if I could only hope that you knew the degree of happiness your
letters give me. I love you more ardently than ever, and repeated
assurances of your affection are absolutely necessary to my repose, and
to that species of felicity which I can enjoy whilst separated from all
I love most fondly--if, however, the word _felicity_ can be applied to
my melancholy, exiled state. Endeavour to afford me some consolation,
and neglect no opportunity of writing to me. Millions of ages have
elapsed since I have received a line from any one. This complete
ignorance of the situation of all those who are most dear to me, is,
indeed, a dreadful calamity: I have, however, some reason to believe
that it cannot last for ever; the scene will soon become interesting;
France must take some decisive part, and vessels will then arrive with
letters. I can give you no news at present; we are all in a state of
repose, and are waiting with impatience for the opening campaign to
awaken us from our stupor. In my other letters, I mentioned my journey
to Albany, and my visit to an assembly of savages. I am expecting some
good Iroquois who have promised to rejoin me here. Either after, or
before receiving this letter, Madame d'Ayen, the viscountess, and
my grandfather,~[1] will receive letters by an opportunity which, I
believe, is more secure than the one I am now writing by; I have written
a longer letter to you also at the same time. I write an immense number
of epistles; God grant that they may arrive! Present my affectionate
respects to your mother, and my grandfather; embrace a thousand times
the viscountess and my sisters; recall me to the remembrance of the
Countess Auguste, Madame de Fronsac, and all your and my friends.
Embrace a thousand times our dearest family. When shall I be able to
assure you, my dearest life, that I love you better than any other
person in the world, and that I shall love you as long as I live? Adieu;
I only look upon this letter as a note.
Present my respects to the Marshal de Noailles, and tell him that I
have sent him some trees from Albany; but I will send him others also at
various times, that I may feel certain of his receiving a few of them.
When you present my compliments to my acquaintance, do not forget the
Chevalier de Chastellux.
Footnote:
1. The Count de la Riviere, (Charles-Ives-Thibault), lieutenant-captain
of the black musketeers, was grandfather of the mother of M. de
Lafayette of whom he had been appointed guardian.
TO MADAME DE LAFAYETTE.
Germantown, April 28th, 1778.
I write to you, my dearest love, by a very strange opportunity, since it
is an English officer who has taken charge of my letter. But your
wonder will cease, when you hear that that officer is my friend
Fitz-Patrick.~[1] He is returning to England, and I could not resist my
wish of embracing him before his departure. It was the first time we had
met unarmed in America, and that manner of meeting suits us both much
better than the hostile appearance which we had, until now, thought
proper to affect. It is long since I have received any news from France,
and I am very impatiently expecting letters. Write frequently, my love,
I need the consolation of hearing often from you during this painful
separation. There is no important news; neither would it be proper for
Mr. Fitz-Patrick to carry political news from a hand at present
engaged in fighting with his army. I am in perfect health; my wound is
completely healed, but my heart is far from being tranquil, for I am
far from all those I love; and my anxiety about them, as well as my
impatience to behold them, increase every hour. Say a thousand things
for me to all my friends; present my respects to Madame d'Ayen, and to
the Marshal de Noailles. Embrace, above all, our children, my dearest
love, and be convinced yourself that every moment that separates me from
you and them appears to me an age. Adieu; I must quit you, for the hour
is far advanced, and to-morrow will not be an idle day. Adieu, Adieu!
Footnote:
1. M. de Lafayette had become very intimate with him in England: he is
the same General Fitz-Patrick, who made two famous motions in the House
of Commons; the one March 17th, 1794, for the prisoners of Magdebourg,
and the other, December 16th, 1796, for the prisoners of Olmutz.
TO GENERAL WASHINGTON.
(ORIGINAL.)
Valley Forge Camp, the 19th May, 1778.
MY DEAR GENERAL,--Agreeable to your excellency's orders, I have taken
the oath of the gentlemen officers in General Woodford's brigade, and
their certificates have been sent to the adjutant-general's office. Give
me leave, now, to present you with some observations delivered to me
by many officers in that brigade, who desire me to submit them to your
perusal. I know, sir, (besides I am not of their opinion in the fact
itself) that I should not accept for you the objections those gentlemen
could have had, as a body, to any order from congress; but I confess the
desire of being agreeable to them, of giving them any mark of friendship
and affection which is in my power and acknowledging the kind sentiments
they honour me with, have been my first and dearest considerations.
Besides that, be pleased to consider that they began by obeying orders,
and want only to let their beloved general know which were the reasons
of their being rather reluctant (as far as reluctance may comply with
their duty and honour) to an oath, the meaning and spirit of which
was, I believe, misunderstood by them. I may add, sir, with a perfect
conviction, that there is not one among them but would be thrice happy
were occasions offered to them of distinguishing yet, by new exertions,
their love for their country, their zeal for their duty as officers,
their consideration for the civil superior power, and their love for
your excellency.
With the greatest respect and most tender affection, I have the honour
to be, &c.
FROM GENERAL WASHINGTON TO THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.
(ORIGINAL.)
Camp, 17th May, 1778.
DEAR SIR,--I received yesterday your favour of the 15th instant,
enclosing a paper subscribed by sundry officers of General Woodford's
brigade, setting forth the reasons for not taking the oath of
abjuration, allegiance, and office; and I thank you much for the
cautious delicacy used in communicating the matter to me. As every
oath should be a free act of the mind, founded on the conviction of its
propriety, I would not wish, in any instance, that there should be the
least degree of compulsion exercised; nor to interpose my opinion, in
order to induce any to make it of whom it is required. The gentlemen,
therefore, who signed the paper, will use their own discretion in
the matter, and swear, or not swear, as their conscience and feelings
dictate.
At the same time, I cannot but consider it as a circumstance of some
singularity, that the scruples against the oath should be peculiar to
the officers of one brigade, and so very extensive. The oath in itself
is not new. It is substantially the same with that required in all
governments, and, therefore, does not imply any indignity; and it
is perfectly consistent with the professions, actions, and implied
engagements of every officer. The objection founded on the supposed
unsettled rank of the officers, is of no validity, rank being only
mentioned as a further designation of the party swearing; nor can it be
seriously thought that the oath is either intended to prevent, or can
prevent, their being promoted, or their resignation.
The fourth objection, stated by the gentlemen, serves as a key to
their scruples; and I would willingly persuade myself, that their
own reflections will point out to them the impropriety of the whole
proceeding, and not suffer them to be betrayed in future into a similar
conduct. I have a regard for them all, and cannot but regret that they
were ever engaged in the measure. I am certain they will regret it
themselves;--sure I am that they ought. I am, my dear marquis, your
affectionate friend and servant.
TO THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.
(ORIGINAL--INSTRUCTION.)~[1]
SIR,--The detachment under your command, with which you will immediately
march towards the enemy's lines, is designed to answer the following
purposes; namely, to be a security to this camp, and a cover to the
country, between the Delaware and the Schuylkill, to interrupt the
communication with Philadelphia, to obstruct the incursions of the
enemy's parties, and to obtain intelligence of their motions and
designs. This last is a matter of very interesting moment, and ought to
claim your particular attention. You will endeavour to procure trusty
and intelligent spies, who will advise you faithfully of whatever may
be passing in the city, and you will, without delay, communicate to me
every piece of material information you obtain. A variety of concurring
accounts make it probable that the enemy are preparing to evacuate
Philadelphia; this is a point of the utmost importance to ascertain,
and, if possible, the place of their future destination. Should you
be able to gain certain intelligence of the time of their intended
embarkation, so that you may be able to take advantage of it, and fall
upon the rear of the enemy in the act of withdrawing, it will be a very
desirable event; but this will be a matter of no small difficulty, and
will require the greatest caution and prudence in the execution. Any
deception or precipitation may be attended with the most disastrous
consequences. You will remember that your detachment is a very valuable
one, and that any accident happening to it would be a severe blow, to
this army; you will, therefore, use every possible precaution for its
security, and to guard against a surprise. No attempt should be made,
nor anything risked, without the greatest prospect of success, and
with every reasonable advantage on your side. I shall not point out any
precise position to you, but shall leave it to your discretion to take
such posts occasionally, as shall appear to you best adapted to the
purposes of your detachment. In general, I would observe, that a
stationary post is unadvisable, as it gives the enemy an opportunity of
knowing your situation, and concerting plans successfully against you.
In case of any offensive movement against this army, you will keep
yourself in such a state as to have an easy communication with it, and,
at the same time, harass the enemy's advance.
Our parties of horse and foot, between the rivers, are to be under your
command, and to form part of your detachment. As great complaints have
been made of the disorderly conduct of the parties which have been
sent towards the enemy's lines, it is expected that you will be very
attentive in preventing abuses of the like nature, and will inquire how
far complaints already made are founded in justice.
Given under my hand, at head quarters, this 18th May, 1778.
Footnote: