and popularity. For God's sake prevent their loudly disputing together.
Nothing hurts so much the interest and reputation of America, as to hear
of their intestine quarrels. On the other hand there are two parties in
France: MM. Adams and Lee on one part, Doctor Franklin and his friends
on the other. So great is the concern which these divisions give me,
that I cannot wait on these, gentlemen as much as I could wish, for fear
of occasioning disputes and bringing them to a greater collision. That,
my dear general, I intrust to your friendship, but I could not help
touching upon that string in my letter to congress. Since I left
America, my dear General, not a single line has arrived from you;~[1]
this I attribute to winds, accidents, and deficiency of opportunities
for I dare flatter myself General Washington would not lose that of
making his friend happy. In the name of that very friendship, my dear
general, never miss any opportunity of letting me know how you do. I
cannot express to you how uneasy I feel on account of your health, and
the dangers you are, perhaps at this moment, exposing yourself to. These
you may possibly laugh at, and call womanlike considerations; but so,
my dear friend, I feel, and I never could conceal the sentiments of my
heart.
I don't know what has become of Colonel Nevill and the Chevalier de
la Colombe. I beg you will make some inquiries respecting them, and do
every thing in your power for their speedy exchange, in case they have
been taken. Inclosed I send you a small note for Mr. Nevill. Give me
leave to recommend to your excellency our new plenipotentiary minister,
who seems to me extremely well calculated for deserving general esteem
and affection.
I know, my dear general, you wish to hear something about my private
affairs: these I give an account of to congress, and shall only add that
I am here as happy as possible. My family, my friends, my countrymen,
made me such a reception, and shewed me every day such an affection,
as I should not have dared to hope. I have been for some days in this
place, where there is the king's own regiment of dragoons, which I
command, and some regiments of infantry, which are, for the present,
under my orders; but I hope soon to begin a more active life, and in
consequence thereof my return to Paris is, I believe, very near at hand;
from thence I shall get employed in whatever may be done against the
common enemy. What I wish, my dear general, what would make me the
happiest of men, is to join again American colours, or to put under your
orders a division of four or five thousand countrymen of mine. In case
any such co-operation or private expedition should be desired, I think
(if peace is not settled this winter) that an _early_ demand might be
complied with for the next campaign.
Our ministry is rather slow in their operations, and have a great
propensity for peace, provided it be an honourable one, so that I think
America must shew herself in good earnest for war till such conditions
are obtained. American independence is a certain, undoubted point, but I
wish to see that independence acknowledged with advantageous conditions.
This, my dear general, is between us; as for what concerns the good will
of the king, of the ministers, of the public, towards America, I, an
American citizen, am fully satisfied with it; and I am sure the alliance
and friendship between both nations will be established in such a way as
will last for ever.
Be so kind, my dear general, as to present my best respects to your
lady, and tell her how happy I should feel to present them myself to her
at her own house. I have a wife, my dear general, who is in love with
you, and her affection for you seems to me to be so well justified that
I cannot oppose myself to that sentiment of hers. She begs you will
receive her compliments and make them acceptable to Mrs. Washington.
I hope, my dear general, you will come to see us in Europe, and most
certainly I give you my word that if I am not happy enough to be sent to
America before the peace, I shall by all means go there as soon as I can
escape. I must not forget to tell you, my dear friend, that I have the
hope of being soon once more a father.
All Europe wants to see you so much, my dear general, that you cannot
refuse them that pleasure. I have boldly affirmed that you will pay me a
visit after the peace is settled, so that if you deny me, you will hurt
your friend's reputation throughout the world.
I beg you will present my best compliments to your family, and remind
them of my tender affection for them all. Be so kind, also, to present
my compliments to the general officers, to all the officers of the army,
to every one, from the first major-general to the last soldier.
I most earnestly entreat you, my dear general, to let me hear from you.
Write me how you do, how things are going on. The minutest detail
will be infinitely interesting to me. Don't forget anything concerning
yourself, and be certain that any little event or observation concerning
you, however trifling it may appear, will have my warmest attention and
interest. Adieu, my dear general, I cannot lay down the pen, and I enjoy
the greatest pleasure in scribbling you this long letter. Don't forget
me, my dear general; be ever as affectionate to me as you have been;
these sentiments I deserve from the ardent ones which fill my heart.
With the highest respect, with the most sincere and tender friendship
that ever human heart has felt, I have the honour to be, &c.
For God's sake write me frequent and long letters, and speak chiefly
about yourself and your private circumstances.
St. Jean, d'Angély, 13th June, 1779.
I Have just received, my dear general, an express from court, with
orders to repair immediately to Versailles. There I am to meet M. le
Comte de Vaux, Lieutenant-General, who is appointed to, the command of
the troops intended for an expedition. In that army I shall be employed
in the capacity of aide-maréchal-général des logis, which is, in our
service, a very important and agreeable place; so that I shall serve in
the most pleasing manner, and shall be in a situation to know everything
and to render services. The necessity of setting off immediately
prevents my writing to General Greene, to the gentlemen of your family,
and other friends of mine in the army, whom I beg to accept my excuses
on account of this order, which I did not expect so soon. Everything
that happens you shall most certainly be acquainted of by me, and I will
for the moment finish my letter in assuring your excellency again of my
profound respect and tenderest friendship. Farewell, my dear general,
and let our mutual affection last for ever.
Footnote:
1. This conjecture was a just one: by the correspondence of General
Washington, who kept copies of all his letters, we perceive that he
often wrote to M. de Lafayette, whose letters, on the contrary, during
this voyage, consist but of two, because we have been able to find only
those that arrived in America.
TO THE COUNT DE VERGENNES.
Havre, 30th July, 1779.
Sir,--I have received the letter which you have had the goodness to
write to me, and in which you promise me another after having read to M.
de Maurepas the paper which I addressed to you.~[1] It is shewing me a
great favour to employ, in answering me, a part of your time, which is
so precious; and I remain in eager expectation of your second letter.
Being convinced that there is no time to lose in adopting the measures
which I propose, my love for my country makes me feel an impatience,
which I fear may pass for importunity; but you will excuse a fault
arising from a feeling which is dear to every good citizen.
The Prince de Montbarrey will give you, with regard to Havre, all the
information you may desire. You are certainly right in saying that my
blood is in fermentation. We hear nothing of M. d'Orvilliers. Some say
that he has gone to the Azores, to intercept the West Indian fleet,
and to join M. d'Estaing, who was to return here, as I was informed by
yourself and M. de Sartine; others affirm that he has gone to America.
The reasoning of the latter does not bring me over to their opinion; and
it is very probable that if our fleet had been sent, as they suppose, I
should not now be in Normandy. Be that as it may, you know, I hope that
any arrangement, and any station, will satisfy me, and that I do not
claim promotion, or assistance, or any mark of favour whatsoever. If
M. d'Orvilliers, or a detachment, is now in the independent states of
America, and my presence there can be in any way more serviceable than
here, I shall be very willing to go over in an American frigate, which
I will take on my own authority; and with the very natural pretext of
rejoining the army in which I served, I will go and endeavour to use my
influence for the advantage of my country. Several persons say, also,
that Spanish dollars have been sent to the Americans; I earnestly hope
it is so, as my last advices shew the necessity for them.
If the project, for want of sufficient means, should not be adopted this
year, I deem it my duty to submit to you a proposition which would in a
great measure accomplish the same object.
While waiting until next year to commence combined operations with a
squadron, why might you not send to Boston three thousand, or even two
thousand men, with three hundred dragoons, who should be joined in the
spring by ships of war and a reinforcement of troops? This detachment
could be sent by two fifty gun ships, using one of the India Company's
ships for a transport, or Spanish vessels, if you prefer them. To avoid
expense, let them sail in company with the ships destined for the West
Indies, with the escort of the merchantmen, with the _Bonhomme Richard_,
and all the frigates at Lorient. These troops will be left in America
until the next campaign, and I will now mention what would be the
result of such a measure; it being well understood that the convoy would
proceed to the West Indies, or to any other destination, after having
landed the detachment. First, we should raise by our presence the value
of their paper money, an important point for French commerce; secondly,
we should be at hand to obtain information, and might take such
preliminary steps as would conduce, eventually, to our obtaining
possession of Halifax; thirdly, such a detachment would inspire, the
American army with new vigour, would powerfully support an attack for
retaking the forts on the north river, and would lead the Americans to
such undertakings as circumstances might render advisable.
You have told me to give you all my ideas. It is my duty to submit
to you this last one, which, as it seems to me, is not liable to any
objection. At first, I was afraid of expressing my opinion so strongly
as I was inclined to do, lest I should be suspected of peculiar motives
and predilections; but, now that people must know me better, and that
you have my entire confidence, I speak more freely, and I solemnly
affirm, upon my honour, that if half my fortune were spent in sending
succours of troops to the Americans, I should believe that, in so doing,
I rendered to my country a service more important than would be to me
this sacrifice.
You will say, perhaps, that it will be difficult to find subsistence for
the troops during the winter; but in paying in specie, we should obtain
provisions very cheap, and the additional number of mouths would be very
small in comparison to the population of the country.
Permit me, sir, to offer you the assurance of my attachment.
Footnote:
1. This letter, in the form of a memorial, and containing the plan of an
expedition to America, has been placed at the end of the volume.--(See
Appendix 2.)
TO M. DE VERGENNES.
Paris, Monday morning, August, 1779.
It is not, sir, to the king's minister that I am now writing, but my
confidence in your kindness makes me hope that I am addressing a man
whom I may safely call my friend, to whom I am merely giving an account
of all that is most interesting to me. You may confer a great obligation
upon me, (and render one perhaps to the public,) by employing in a
less useless manner the few talents a soldier may possess, who has been
hitherto rather fortunate in war, and who supplies his want of knowledge
by the purest ardour in the cause.
I have seen the Comte de Maurepas, and I told him what I have the honour
of communicating to you; he would not agree to the projects in question,
and was doubtless right, although my own opinion remains unchanged; but
he thinks that I, who was one of the first to speak of the expedition
with fifteen hundred or two thousand men, must now command six hundred
hussars, and that this change would be injurious to me. He, perhaps,
imagined, as some others have done, from kindness towards me, that
such a command would be beneath me. I ought not, besides, he added, to
exchange a certainty for an uncertainty.
To this I answer, in the first place, that from the extreme kindness of
the public towards me, nothing (I mean in relation to what passes in my
own heart) can ever be injurious to me; that my setting out with only
six hundred men would have been attributed to its real motive, and
therefore pardoned. In the second place, to suspect me of entering into
a calculation with my country, and of despising any means whatever of
serving her, would either prove a want of discernment or of memory; and
to the last objection, I reply, that the expedition of which I spoke to
you yesterday, is quite as certain as my own.
If the troops had remained in a state of inactivity, it would have
been very natural if my ardour had induced me to adopt the trade of a
corsair; nay, it would have been natural if I had set out in an armed
boat; but when an opportunity offers for employing on a grander scale
the talents of a man who has never exercised a soldier's trade but on
a wide field, it would be unfortunate for him to lose the power of
distinguishing himself, and rendering, perhaps, some important services
to his own country; and it would be injudicious in the government not
to put to the test that reputation which has been gained in foreign
service.
May I, sir, speak to you with frankness? What is most proper for
me, would be an advance guard of grenadiers and _chasseurs_, and a
detachment of the king's dragoons, making in all, from fifteen hundred
to two thousand men, to raise me above the line, and give me the
power of action. There are not many lieutenants-general, still fewer
field-marshals, and no brigadiers, who have had such important commands
confided to them as chance has given me. I also know the English, and
they know me--two important considerations during a war. The command I
wished for has even been given to a colonel.
It is said that M. de Maillebois, M. de Voyer, and M. de Melfort,
will be employed; I know then first and last of these gentlemen; M. de
Melfort is a field-marshal, and although I have exercised that trade
myself, I should be well pleased to be under his orders. I wish to be
chosen in the report of the army, not of the court; I do not belong to
the court, still less am I a courtier; and I beg the king's ministers to
look upon me as having belonged to a corps of the guards.
The Count de Maurepas only replied to me, perhaps, to divert my
attention from some projects which are known unto me; I shall see him
again on Wednesday morning, and my fate will then be decided. You would
give me, sir, a great proof of friendship, by paying him a visit
either to-night or to-morrow morning, and communicating to him the same
sentiments you expressed to me yesterday. It is more important that you
should see him at that time, because, if I hear from Lorient that the
vessels are in readiness, I know not how to dissemble, and I must demand
my farewell audience. The little expedition will then be given to some
lieutenant-colonel, who may never have looked with the eye of a general,
who may not possess great talents, but who, if he be brave and prudent,
will lead the six hundred men as well as M. de Turenne could do if he
were to return to life. The detachment of dragoons might then be
kept back, the more so, as when reduced to fifty it would only become
ridiculous; and the major, who takes charge of the detail, would
likewise attend to the detail of my advance guard, in which I place
great dependence.
I acknowledge to you, that I feel no dependence on M. de Montbarry,
and I even wish, that my affairs could be arranged by you and M. de
Maurepas. I know, sir, that I am asking for a proof of friendship which
must give you some trouble, but I request it because I depend fully upon
that friendship.
Pardon this scrawl, Sir; pardon my importunity; and pardon the liberty I
take in assuring you so simply of my attachment and respect.
DR. FRANKLIN TO THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.
(ORIGINAL.)
Passy, 24th August, 1779.
Sir,--The congress, sensible of your merit towards the United States,
but unable adequately to reward it, determined to present you with a
sword, as a small mark of their grateful acknowledgment: they directed
it to be ornamented with suitable devices. Some of the principal actions
of the war, in which you distinguished yourself by your bravery and
conduct, are therefore represented upon it. These, with a few emblematic
figures, all admirably well executed, make its principal value. By
the help of the exquisite artists of France, I find it easy to express
everything but the sense we have of your worth, and our obligations
to you for this, figures, and even words, are found insufficient. I,
therefore, only add that, with the most perfect esteem, I have the
honour to be,
B. FRANKLIN.
P.S. My grandson goes to Havre with the sword, and will have the honour
of presenting it to you.
TO DR. FRANKLIN.
(ORIGINAL.)
Havre, 29th August, 1779,
Sir,--Whatever expectations might have been raised from the sense of
past favours, the goodness of the United States to me has ever been
such, that on every occasion it far surpasses any idea I could have
conceived. A new proof of that flattering truth I find in the noble
present, which congress has been pleased to honour me with, and which is
offered in such a manner by your excellency as will exceed everything,
but the feelings of an unbounded gratitude.
In some of the devices I cannot help finding too honourable a reward
for those slight services which, in concert with my fellow soldiers,
and under the god-like American hero's orders, I had the good fortune
to render. The sight of those actions, where I was a witness of American
bravery and patriotic spirit, I shall ever enjoy with that pleasure
which becomes a heart glowing with love for the nation, and the most
ardent zeal for its glory and happiness. Assurances of gratitude, which
I beg leave to present to your excellency, are much too inadequate to my
feelings, and nothing but such sentiments can properly acknowledge your
kindness towards me. The polite manner in which Mr. Franklin was pleased
to deliver that inestimable sword, lays me under great obligations to
him, and demands my particular thanks.
With the most perfect respect, I have the honour to be, &c.
FROM GENERAL WASHINGTON TO THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE.
(ORIGINAL.)
West Point, 30th Sept., 1779.
MY DEAR MARQUIS,--A few days ago, I wrote a letter in much haste; since
that, I have been honoured with the company of Chevalier de la Luzerne,
and by him was favoured with your obliging letter of the 12th of June,
which filled me with equal pleasure and surprise; the latter at hearing
that you had not received one of the many letters I had written to you
since you left the American shore. It gave me infinite pleasure to hear
from your sovereign, and of the joy which your safe arrival in France
had diffused among your friends. I had no doubt that this would be the
case; to hear it from yourself adds pleasure to the account; and here,
my dear friend, let me congratulate you on your new, honourable, and
pleasing appointment in the army commanded by the Count de Vaux, which
I shall accompany with an assurance that none can do it with more warmth
of affection, or sincere joy, than myself. Your forward zeal in the
cause of liberty; your singular attachment to this infant world; your
ardent and persevering efforts, not only in America, but since your
return to France, to serve the United States; your polite attention to
Americans, and your strict and uniform friendship for me, have ripened
the first impressions of esteem and attachment which I imbibed for you
into such perfect love and gratitude, as neither time nor absence can
impair. This will warrant my assuring you that, whether in the
character of an officer at the head of a corps of gallant Frenchmen,
if circumstances should require this; whether as a major-general,
commanding a division of the American army; or whether, after our swords
and spears have given place to the ploughshare and pruning-hook, I see
you as a private gentleman, a friend and companion, I shall welcome
you with all the warmth of friendship to Columbia's shores; and, in
the latter case, to my rural cottage, where homely fare and a cordial
reception shall be substituted for delicacies and costly living. This,
from past experience, I know you can submit to; and if the lovely
partner of your happiness will consent to participate with us in such
rural entertainment and amusements, I can undertake, in behalf of Mrs.
Washington, that she will do everything in her power to make Virginia
agreeable to the Marchioness. My inclination and endeavours to do this
cannot be doubted, when I assure you that I love everybody that is dear
to you, and, consequently, participate in the pleasure you feel in the
prospect of again becoming a parent; and do most sincerely congratulate
you and your lady on this fresh pledge she is about to give you of her
love.
I thank you for the trouble you have taken, and your polite attention,
in favouring me with a copy of your letter to congress; and feel, as I
am persuaded they must do, the force of such ardent zeal as you therein
express for the interest of this country. The propriety of the hint
you have given them must carry conviction, and, I trust, will have a
salutary effect; though there is not, I believe, the same occasion for
the admonition now that there was several months ago. Many late changes
have taken place in that honourable body, which have removed, in a very
great degree, if not wholly, the discordant spirit which, it is said,
prevailed in the winter, and I hope measures will also be taken to
remove those unhappy and improper differences which have extended
themselves elsewhere, to the prejudice of our affairs in Europe.
I have a great pleasure in the visit which the Chevalier de la Luzerne
and Monsieur Marbois did me the honour to make at this camp; concerning
both of whom I have imbibed the most favourable impressions, and I thank
you for the honourable mention you made of me to them. The chevalier,
till he had announced himself to congress, did not choose to be received
in his public character; if he had, except paying him military honours,
it was not my intention to depart from that plain and simple manner of
living which accords with the real interest and policy of men struggling
under every difficulty for the attainment of the most inestimable
blessing of life, _liberty_. The chevalier was polite enough to approve
my principle, and condescended to appear pleased with our Spartan
living. In a word, he made us all exceedingly happy by his affability
and good humour, while he remained in camp.
You are pleased, my dear marquis, to express an earnest desire of seeing
me in France, after the establishment of our independency, and do me the
honour to add, that you are not singular in your request. Let me
entreat you to be persuaded, that, to meet you anywhere, after the
final accomplishment of so glorious an event, would contribute to my
happiness; and that to visit a country to whose generous aid we stand
so much indebted, would be an additional pleasure; but remember, my good
friend, that I am unacquainted with your language, that I am too far
advanced in years to acquire a knowledge of it, and that, to converse
through the medium of an interpreter, upon common occasions, especially
with the ladies, must appear so extremely awkward, insipid, and uncouth,
that I can scarcely bear it in idea. I will, therefore, hold myself
disengaged for the present; but when I see you in Virginia, we will talk
of this matter, and fix our plans.