The bit of land to which that unneutral north wind had wafted the
travelers was an island about fifteen miles from Georgetown, South
Carolina. Nobody on _La Victoire_ knew the coast, so it was prudently
decided to reconnoiter in a small boat. Lafayette, with De Kalb and
two or three other officers and a few sailors, started off about two
o'clock on the afternoon of June 13th, in the ship's yawl, and rowed
until sunset without encountering a soul. After the sun went down they
continued to row on and on, still in complete solitude, until about ten
o'clock, when they came upon some negroes dredging for oysters.
Thus the first human beings that Lafayette encountered in the land of
the free were slaves; and it was not the least picturesque coincidence
of his picturesque career that these ignorant creatures rendered him a
service, instead of his helping them. Also it is rather amusing that
this knight errant of noble lineage, who had come so far to fight
for freedom, should have made his entry into America in the dead of
[Pg 58]night, in an evil-smelling oyster-boat, instead of with pomp and
ceremony from the ship his wealth had provided.
Neither Frenchmen nor slaves could understand the speech of the others
except in a vague way. The Frenchmen thought the slaves said there was
a pilot somewhere on the island. They seemed to be offering to take
them to the house of their master, an American officer; and as the tide
had fallen and it was impossible to proceed farther in the yawl, they
transferred themselves to the oyster-boat and gave themselves up to
these mysterious guides. For two hours the blacks ferried them through
the darkness. About midnight they saw a light, and soon were put ashore
to make their way toward it. It was evident that their approach caused
excitement. Dogs began to bark and the inmates of the large house from
which the light shone appeared to be making preparations for a siege.
A sharp challenge rang out, which indicated that they were mistaken
for marauders from some British ship. De Kalb replied in his most
polite English, explaining that they were French officers come to
offer their swords to the Continental Army. Then, with the swiftness
of a transformation in a fairy play, they found themselves in a glow
of light, the center of warm interest, and being welcomed with true
Southern hospitality. No wonder that ever after Lafayette had the
kindest possible feelings for African slaves.
Mid-June in Carolina is very beautiful; and it must have seemed a
wonderful world upon which he opened his eyes next morning. Outside
his window was the green freshness of early summer; inside the
[Pg 59]immaculate luxury of a gentleman's bedchamber--both doubly
delightful after seven cramped weeks at sea. That the smiling blacks
who came to minister to his wants were bondmen, absolutely at the mercy
of their masters, and that the filmy gauze curtains enveloping his bed
had been put there to prevent his being eaten alive by those "gnats
which cover you with large blisters," about which he afterward wrote
Adrienne, were drawbacks and inconsistencies he hardly realized in that
first blissful awakening. He was always more inclined to enthusiasm
than to faultfinding, and nothing that ever happened to him in America
effaced the joy of his first impression.
His host proved to be Major Benjamin Huger, of French Huguenot descent,
so he had fallen among people of his own nation. Had Major Huger been
one of his own relatives he could not have been kinder or his family
more sympathetic; and it was a sympathy that lasted long, for in the
group around the French officers was a little lad of five who took
small part in the proceedings at the moment, but lost his heart to
the tall Frenchman then and there, and made a quixotic journey in
Lafayette's behalf after he was grown.
The water was too shallow to permit _La Victoire_ to enter the harbor
at Georgetown, so a pilot was sent to take her to Charleston while
Lafayette and his companions went by land. The reports he received
about vigilant English cruisers made him send his captain orders to
land officers and crew and burn the ship if occasion arose and he had
[Pg 60]time; but another unneutral wind brought _La Victoire_ into
Charleston Harbor in broad daylight without encountering friend or foe.
Major Huger furnished Lafayette and De Kalb with horses for the
ninety miles and more of bad roads that lay between his plantation
and Charleston. The others, for whom no mounts could be found, made
the distance on foot, arriving ragged and worn. But as soon as the
city knew why they had come, its inhabitants vied with one another
in showering attentions upon them. One of his companions wrote that
the marquis had been received with all the honors due to a marshal of
France. Lafayette, who sent a letter to his wife by every ship he found
ready to sail, was eloquent in praise of Charleston and its citizens.
It reminded him of England, he said, but it was neater, and manners
were simpler. "The richest man and the poorest are upon the same social
level," he wrote, "and although there are some great fortunes in
this country, I defy any one to discover the least difference in the
bearing of one man to another." He thought the women beautiful, and
Charlestonians the most agreeable people he had ever met. He felt as
much at ease with them as though he had known them for twenty years;
and he described a grand dinner at which the governor and American
generals had been present, which lasted five hours. "We drank many
healths and spoke very bad English, which language I am beginning to
use a little. To-morrow I shall take the gentlemen who accompany me to
call upon the governor, and then I shall make preparations to leave."
[Pg 61]He hoped to provide funds for the journey to Philadelphia by
selling certain goods he had brought on _La Victoire_. It would have
been easy to do this had not his trustful nature and ignorance of
business played him a sorry turn. He found that his unwilling friend,
the captain, held a note which he had signed in a hurry of departure
without realizing what it contained. It provided that the vessel and
cargo must be taken back to Bordeaux and sold there. This was most
embarrassing, because, in spite of his large possessions in France, he
was a stranger in America and had no other way of providing for the
immediate wants of himself and his companions. It proved even more
embarrassing than at first seemed likely, for the ship never reached
Bordeaux. She was wrecked on the Charleston bar at the very outset of
her homeward voyage.
In his enthusiasm Lafayette had written Adrienne, "What delights me
most is that all citizens are brothers." Here unexpectedly was a chance
to put the brotherly quality to the test. He carried his dilemma to his
new-found friends. They were polite and sympathetic, but ready money
was scarce, they told him, and even before _La Victoire_ came to her
inglorious end he experienced "considerable difficulty" in arranging
a loan. Whatever temporary jolt this gave his theories, his natural
optimism triumphed both in securing money to equip his expedition and
in preserving intact his good will toward the American people.
By the 25th of June everything was ready and his company set out,
[Pg 62]traveling in three different parties, in order not to overcrowd
the inns of that sparsely settled region. The gentlemen who had
been entertained by Major Huger traveled together. One of them, the
Chevalier du Buisson, wrote an account of the journey which explains
the order in which they set forth. "The aide-de-camp of the marquis
undertook to be our guide, although he had no possible idea of the
country.... The procession was headed by one of the marquis's people
in huzzar uniform. The marquis's carriage was a sort of uncovered sofa
on four springs, with a fore-carriage. At the side of his carriage
he had one of his servants on horseback who acted as his squire. The
Baron de Kalb was in the same carriage. The two colonels, Lafayette's
counselors, followed in a second carriage with two wheels. The third
was for the aides-de-camp, the fourth for the luggage, and the rear was
brought up by a negro on horseback."
According to Lafayette's reckoning, they traveled nearly nine hundred
miles through the two Carolinas, Virginia, and the states of Maryland
and Delaware. But only a small part of the progress was made in such
elegance. Roads were rough and the weather was very hot, which was
bad for men and horses alike. Some of the company fell ill; some of
the horses went lame; some of the luggage was stolen; some of it had
to be left behind. Extra horses had to be bought, and this used up
most of the money. On the 17th of July Lafayette wrote to Adrienne
from Petersburg: "I am at present about eight days' journey from
Philadelphia in the beautiful land of Virginia.... You have learned of
[Pg 63]the beginning of my journey and how brilliantly I set out in a
carriage.... At present we are all on horseback, after having broken up
the wagons in my usual praiseworthy fashion; and I expect to write you
in a few days that we have arrived on foot." He admitted that there had
been some fatigue, but as for himself he had scarcely noticed it, so
interested had he been in the great new country with its vast forests
and large rivers; "everything, indeed, to give nature an appearance of
youth and of majesty." "The farther north I proceed the better I like
this country and its people."
There was no regularity about sending mail across the Atlantic, and as
yet he had not heard from home. Doubtless the hope of finding letters
spurred on his desire to reach Philadelphia. From Annapolis he and De
Kalb alone were able to proceed without a halt, leaving the rest of the
party behind for needed repose. They reached Philadelphia on July 27th.
Even with this final burst of speed they had consumed a whole month in
a journey that can now be made in less than twenty-four hours.
[Pg 64]VIII