| | Marquis de Lafayette
 
September 6, 1757 – May 20, 1834 Originally Posted by Encyclopedia When this lad of 19, with the little English he had been able to pick up on his voyage, presented himself to the Congress with Deane's authority to demand a commission of the highest rank after the commander-in-chief, his reception was chilly. Deane's contracts were so numerous, and for officers of such high rank, that it was impossible for Congress to ratify them without injustice to Americans who had become entitled by their service to promotion. La Fayette appreciated the situation as soon as it was explained to him, and immediately expressed his desire to serve in the American army upon two conditions—that he should receive no pay, and that he should act as a volunteer.
These terms were so different from those made by other foreigners, they had been attended with such substantial sacrifices, and they promised such important indirect advantages, that Congress passed a resolution, on July 31, 1777, "that his services be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connections, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States." The next day La Fayette met George Washington, who became his lifelong friend. They became so close, in fact, that the Marquis named his son George Washington-Lafayette, and asked Washington to be his godfather, which he accepted. Congress intended his appointment as purely honorary, and the question of giving him a command was left entirely to Washington's discretion. As a member of Washington's inner circle, La Fayette also became very close friends with young Alexander Hamilton, Washington's chief aide-de-camp. When Hamilton later co-founded an anti-slavery society, La Fayette wrote him to request that his name be added to the membership.
His first battle was Brandywine on September 11, 1777, where he showed courage, activity, and received a wound. Shortly afterwards he secured what he most desired, the command of a division – the immediate result of a communication from Washington to Congress of November 1, 1777, in which he said: "The Marquis de La Fayette is extremely solicitous of having a command equal to his rank. I do not know in what light Congress will view the matter, but it appears to me, from a consideration of his illustrious and, important connections, the attachment which he has manifested for our cause, and the consequences which his return in disgust might produce, that it will be advisable to gratify his wishes, and the more so as several gentlemen from France who came over under some assurances have gone back disappointed in their expectations. His conduct with respect to them stands in a favourable point of view—having interested himself to remove their uneasiness and urged the impropriety of their making any unfavourable representations upon their arrival at home. Besides, he is sensible, discreet in his manners, has made great proficiency in our language, and from the disposition he discovered at the battle of Brandywine possesses a large share of bravery and military ardour."
Though the commander of a division, La Fayette never had many troops in his charge. Whatever military talents he possessed were not the kind which appeared as conspicuous advantage on the theatre to which his wealth and family influence rather than his soldierly gifts had called him. In the first months of 1778 he commanded troops detailed for the projected expedition against Canada. His retreat from Barren Hill (May 28, 1778) was commended as masterly, and he fought at the Battle of Monmouth (June 28) and received from Congress a formal recognition of his services in the Rhode Island expedition (August 1778).
The treaties of commerce and defensive alliance, signed by the United States and France on February 6, 1778, were promptly followed by a declaration of war by Great Britain against the latter, and La Fayette asked leave to revisit France and to consult his king as to the further direction of his services. This leave was readily granted; it was not difficult for Washington to replace the major-general, but it was impossible to find another equally competent, influential and devoted champion of the American cause near the court of Louis XVI. In fact, he went on a mission rather than a visit. He embarked on January 11, 1779, was received with enthusiasm, and was made a colonel in the French cavalry. On March 4, 1779, Franklin wrote to the president of Congress: "The marquis de La Fayette is infinitely esteemed and beloved here, and I am persuaded will do everything in his power to merit a continuance of the same affection from America." He won the confidence of Vergennes.
La Fayette was absent from America about six months, and his return was the occasion of a complimentary resolution of Congress. From April until October 1781 he was charged with the defence of Virginia, in which Washington gave him the credit of doing all that was possible with the forces at his disposal; and he showed his zeal by borrowing money on his own account to provide his soldiers with necessaries. The siege of Yorktown, in which La Fayette bore an honourable if not a distinguished part, was the last of the war, and terminated his military career in the United States. He immediately obtained leave to return to France, where it was supposed he might be useful in negotiations for a general peace. He was also occupied in the preparations for a combined French and Spanish expedition against some of the British West India Islands, of which he had been appointed chief of staff, and a formidable fleet assembled at Cádiz, but the armistice signed on January 20, 1783 between the belligerents put a stop to the expedition. He had been promoted (1781) to the rank of maréchal de camp (brigadier general) in the French army, and he received every token of regard from his sovereign and his countrymen. He visited the United States again in 1784, and remained some five months as a guest of the nation.
Washington and Lafayette were both slaveowners who had come to view slavery with repugnance. Lafayette urged Washington to free his slaves as an example to others— Washington was held in such high regard after the revolution that there was reason to hope that if he freed his slaves, others would follow his example. Lafayette purchased an estate in French Guiana and settled his own slaves there, and he offered a place for Washington's slaves, writing "I would never have drawn my sword in the cause of America if I could have conceived thereby that I was founding a land of slavery." Nevertheless, Washington did not free his own slaves in his lifetime. Documentation and letters in his Mount Vernon residence do show, however, that his wish after his death was for all slaves he owned be freed. |
09-06-2006, 12:20 PM
