"The Marquis de La Fayette 
 
 AMERICAN revolution; 
 
 REPRINTED FROM 
 
 "The Pennsylvania Magazine of Historv and liiooRAi'Hv; 
 
 April, 1895. 
 
 f 
 
 f 
 
V 
 
A REVIEW 
 
 OF 
 
 MR. TOWER'S 
 
 (( 
 
 The Marquis de La Fayette 
 
 IN THE 
 
 AMERICAN revolution; 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 1895. 
 

 
r 
 
 i/ 
 
 "The Marquis de La Fayette 
 
 IN THE 
 
 AMERICAN REVOLUTION.'" 
 
 Theke are few men who have been so differently judged 
 as La Fayette. In this country, ever since he, as a boy of 
 nineteen years, offered himself to Mr. Deane, in 1776, to 
 serve " the United States with all possible zeal, without any 
 pension or particular allowance," down through a most 
 stormy career to the period when, fifty years later, he 
 made, as the nation's guest, a triumphal progress through 
 the country, his -career built np a reputation as bright and 
 unsullied as that of any man in our history. He is to us 
 the typical leader of the new era in human progress which 
 was then dawning on the world as opposed to the ancim 
 regime. Americans have never lost their faith in him, and 
 feel more and more that, owing to his peculiar position, he 
 
 ' "The Blarquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution: with 
 Some Account of the Attitude of France toward the War of Indepen- 
 dence." By Charlemagne Tower, Jr., LL.D. In two volumes. Phila- 
 delphia : J. B. Lippincott Company, 1895. 
 
4 " The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolulion." 
 
 was Olio of the great heroes of the struggle for indepen- 
 dence whom we sliould delight to honor. The history of 
 tlie lant lialf of this cc-ntury is filled with the names of revo- 
 lutionary leaders, men like Kossuth or Garibaldi, and the 
 like, whose highest aim waa to rescue their own country 
 from oppression ; but, so far as we know, it tells us of no one 
 who freely exposed his life and property in defence of the 
 great cause of human freedom itself, while he was a perfect 
 stranger to those in whose cause he fought. We have 
 always felt in this country, therefore, a special pride in the 
 career of this man, the smallest portion of whose life, after 
 all, was passed here, for we have felt that the inspiration 
 which made his career so illustrious in Europe was derived 
 from his fellowship with our own countrymen, and espe- 
 cially from following the advice and counsel of his great 
 friend, Washington. 
 
 But when we reflect upon his career we are sometimes 
 apt to forget the discipline of the struggle through which 
 he passed here before he went back capable, in the opinion 
 of the best judges, of leading in any movement which 
 might be undertaken for the regeneration of France. He 
 came to us a mere boy, of a vivacious temperament, ready 
 to command and willing to outrank veterans who had 
 grown up in the service of their country, and yet the 
 cool, keen insight of Washington saw in hira from the 
 beginning the making of a general. He was not merely a 
 stranger with an imperfect knowledge of our language, but 
 he was a Frenchman and a Catholic at a time when no 
 more disqualifying 6tigma could be affixed to any man who 
 offered his services as a military otiicer; but he had not 
 long served in our arm}- before he became in the eyes of 
 the sternest Puritan and the most peace-loving Quaker 
 not so much a great military hero as a man imbued with 
 virtues which do not usually characterize militarv heroes. 
 He seemed to our fathers throughout the war of the Revo- 
 lution to be a man pre-eminently endowed with those quali- 
 ties whieli are conspicuous in heroes of a very different 
 kind. He was always regarded here as the type of self-sac- 
 
" The 3Iarquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution." 6 
 
 rifice, with an intense earnestness of desire to aid the cause 
 which he had espoused, and with a readiness to undertake 
 any duty, however arduous, to which he might be assigned 
 by the General-in-Chief. He was recognized on all hands not 
 merely as a Marquis, although his social position in France 
 had not been forgotten, but as a man fighting for " an idea," 
 as the modern phrase is ; restrained, however, at all times 
 by the sober wisdom of Washington from that extravagance 
 of opinion and obtrusiveness of manner which was then 
 thought characteristic of a young man and a Frenchman. 
 While he felt that a revolution was necessary here to insure 
 certain fundamental rights, he knew perfectly well that 
 such a revolution must be a very different proceeding from 
 that which might be needed in such a country as feudal 
 France. It is mainly for this reason that La Fayette's 
 career in this country becomes so interesting. We desire 
 to know why and how a man of his peculiar temperament 
 came to help us, how he seemed to inspire all those who 
 surrounded him with the fullest confidence, and how and 
 why, before he left us, he was recognized not only as one 
 of the most devoted patriots in our ranks, but one of our 
 most distinguished generals. 
 
 The same sympathy which his character and actions ex- 
 cited here has not been felt by historical writers in his own 
 country. In the French Revolution he was as much of a 
 leader, — more so, indeed, than he had been here. In the 
 early days of that great convulsion he was the commander 
 of the National Guard, — that military force which he had 
 created, — which delayed, at least, the fearful excesses which 
 took place when La Fayette was removed. He was the 
 author of that celebrated constitutional law, the basis of all 
 reorganization of government on a liberal basis on the con- 
 tinent of Europe in modern times, a sort of French Bill of 
 Rights called " Droits de Vhomme et dii citoyen." In short, 
 he may be called almost the absolute ruler of France from 
 the day on which the King and Queen were dragged trom 
 Versailles to Paris in October, 1789, to the day on which 
 the mob assailed and murdered their guard at the Tuileries 
 
6 " The Marquis de La FaycUe in the American Revolution." 
 
 in August, 1702. He was not merely the leader of those 
 who desired to abolish the oppression of femlal rule in 
 France, but ho was the head of a powerful party — at least in 
 the early days of the Revolution — whicli sought to achieve ita 
 purpose by peaceable and constitutional means rather than 
 by violent revolutionary force, lie was in no sense an ex- 
 tremist; and, as the mass of the population were disposed 
 to accomplish their ends by violent mea.sures, if necessary, 
 he was hated by extremists on both sides, and hence his 
 reputation suffered both among those who defended the 
 old order and those who strove to establish the new. He 
 was no friend to the King, it was said, for he did not rescue 
 him from the mob wlien he was in its power. He was still 
 less a friend of the ultra-revolutionar}- party, for he aban- 
 doned his country when it had fallen into their hands. La 
 Fayette in France tried to assume the impossible rok of a 
 moderate when all around him were roused by revolution- 
 ary fury to the wildest excesses. Of course we cannot look 
 to French critics for the same admiring sympathy which is 
 freely bestOM'ed by our own countrymen on the character 
 and career of this young knight. His reputation has in- 
 deed always been at all times at the mercy of party cham- 
 pions. According to one set of critics he was, as I have 
 said, a betrayer of his King, a perfect hypocrite, the merest 
 trimmer in his political opinions and acts, and so fond of 
 hearing his own praises that he found a certain consolation 
 in breaking his leg, because it enabled him to talk freely of 
 himself to every one. To another set of writers, and those 
 claiming to be his friends, he was a mere sentimentalist, 
 incapable of leading a revolution, not fit for its rough work, 
 and too timid to grasp at the fruitful results of the principles 
 he avowed as guiding his political conduct. 
 
 To them he becomes a politician rather than a hero. To 
 Americans who are jealous of the glory of La Fayette, and 
 who feel certain that he was a star of the first magnitude 
 when he shone in our firmament, some trustworthy account 
 of his career in this country — not in defence, but in the way 
 of commemoration and illustration of his career here — seems 
 
" The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution." 7 
 
 very desirable. So to some there may be needed an expla- 
 nation of certain acts in his later life which seem of doubt- 
 ful expediency, and to all something of the genesis of a 
 great man whom our Revolution first made conspicuous. 
 "We would like to know how a boy of nineteen had suffi- 
 ciently mastered the problem of constitutional liberty as to 
 be willing to give up all in its defence ; how he shunned 
 with great care the propagation of the unhistoric theories 
 of government which were then fashionable in France, but 
 to us monstrum horrendum ; how it happened that he be- 
 came, from the time he first met Washington, his life-long 
 friend ; how it was that, when confined in the dungeon at 
 Olmiitz, he never hesitated to preach the doctrine of self- 
 government, even when the power was in the hands of the 
 Jacobins. We want to know whether what were intended 
 to be the kind words of Charles X., spoken in 1829 of La 
 Fayette, had any true foundation. " Of all the men," said 
 the King, " I have ever known during a long life, myself 
 and La Fayette are the only persons who have never changed 
 their political opinions." 
 
 For these reasons we look upon a new account of the 
 life of La Fayette, derived from authentic sources, and 
 especially of that portion of it which was passed in the ser- 
 vice of this country, with great interest. We need a clear 
 statement as to how far that service was aided or discouraged 
 by the French government, and for what reasons. Of late 
 the reputation of La Fayette in France, now that he has 
 lain in his grave sixty years, has approached more nearly 
 to what we suppose it always has been here. We have 
 now, thanks to the desire of France to claim her due 
 share in the success of the war of independence, an op- 
 portunity of giving to La Fayette some of the credit which 
 is due to his illustrious career; we have now access to a 
 full presentation of the case taken from the government 
 archives, — a source quite free, we may suppose, from the 
 bias of any party animosities. It was a happy thought of 
 the French authorities, as one of the means of celebrating 
 the centennial anniversary of the taking of the Bastille, to 
 
8 " The Mnrquk de La FayeUe in the American Revolution." 
 
 publish five enormous folios wliicli contain all tlie corre- 
 spondence, manoires, drafts of treaties, and documents to 
 be found in the government collection concerning tlie part 
 taken by France in achieving our independence. It was 
 one of the great features in the celebration of that important 
 event. This work is called " Ilistoire de la participation de 
 la France A I'etablissement dcs Etats Unis d'Amerique." It 
 was arranged and edited by M. Henri Doiiiol, Correspon- 
 dant de Tlnt^titut, " Dlrecteur do rinipriniorie nationale." 
 It may well be said of M. Doniol tliiit he has rendered an 
 " international service to France and America by the publi- 
 cation of this admirable work." Some of these documents 
 have been in former days copied for the use and under the 
 direction of Messrs. Sparks and Bancroft, but to future 
 historical students this unfolding of the nature of the par- 
 ticipation of France in our struggle, by which the whole 
 story of her connection with the Revolution is told, gives 
 us a knowledge of the history of that time for which we 
 look in vain elsewhere, and which may well force us to 
 change our views on many points heretofore supposed to 
 have been irrevocably settled. 
 
 This monumental work, which is, we doubt not, to be 
 the great storehouse of facts on the subjects upon which 
 it treats, was very properly given to the world on the 
 centennial anniversary, as we have said, of the capture 
 of the Bastille, July 14, 1789. It was intended as a tro- 
 phy of what France had done for liberty in the history 
 of the world. The day of the anniversary was of course 
 the occasion of a great national festival (like the secular 
 games of Rome), and thoughtful men in that country were 
 never more proud of her national reputation than when 
 she could prove by such a publication, without vain boast- 
 ing, that she had done so much work in bringing into 
 being one of the great powers of the world. 
 
 This book is undoubtedly tlie great authority for the 
 facts which go to juake up our knowledge of our relations 
 with France during the Revolution, and the documents it 
 presents us with should l)e regarded as conclusive in the 
 
" The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution." 9 
 
 statements they make. It is a most fortunate circumstance 
 that it has ah-eady been brought into most useful service by 
 Mr. Tower in his life of La Fayette while he was in the 
 American service. It helps to explain his career as no 
 documeiitar}- evidence has yet done. His motives, so far 
 as the}' can be understood by written documents, and, in 
 short, tlie nature of the acts and motives of France in this 
 business, and especially' the history of her co-operation with 
 La Fayette, throw a light upon a very dark chapter in our 
 history. Mr. Tower has some peculiar qualifications for work 
 of this kind. An early fondness and study of American his- 
 tory, stimulated by the investigation of the original sources 
 abroad, where for a number of years he was completing his 
 education, his familiarity with modern languages, and his 
 opportunity of constant intercourse with literary men have 
 no doubt made him feel tbat this great gift of the French 
 government should be made use of to show that we have 
 not forgotten what France did for us in the day of trial, and 
 how the interests of France and the liberty and indepen- 
 dence of America became welded together in the fier}' fur- 
 nace of the Revolution. Mr. Tower has not neglected other 
 sources of information, of course, when it was necessary to 
 fill out the portrait of La Fayette ; but, after all, his chief 
 reliance is upon that of M. Doniol, and the consequence is 
 that in all cases where he seeks for evidence in the " Par- 
 ticipation," nothing can be fuller, more complete, and in 
 every way more satisfactory than the conclusions which he 
 arrives at. Indeed, one cannot go far in reading his book 
 without cominof to the conclusion that Mr. Tower is emi- 
 nently of a judicial temper, a quality perhaps never more 
 necessary than when he has to do with enthusiasts who kept 
 up the popular feeling in France, most of whom were dis- 
 ciples of Rousseau and the Encyclopaedists, of whom La 
 Fayette was never one. There can be no doubt that had he 
 answered to the popular idea of a Frenchman he would have 
 met with no success in his expedition, and nothing is more 
 remarkable than the manner in which he adapted his con- 
 duct to the simple purpose, not of gaining any new liberties 
 
10 " The Mnrquis de Im Fayette in the Amencan Revolution." 
 
 for the AniericaiiB, but of |irt'.*<rviii<^ tliose that hatl been 
 tlicir iiiheritnncc as Eiifjlinhnien. He gained the good will 
 an<l co-operation of liis fellow-soldiers because he advocatetl 
 no theories which were not in harmony with their ideas of 
 self-government. It is true that La Fayette was not one of 
 those officers who burned to avenge France and himself 
 because an ignominious treaty had been forced upon his 
 country by England in 1763, still less that he came to gain 
 distinction as a military adventurer in this country. His 
 great wish was to serve near the person of Washington. 
 He knew America, young as he was, better than the Conite 
 de Broglie did, and had no desire to establish here a Stadt- 
 holdcrate for himself and to supersede Washington in com- 
 nian<l. 
 
 Mr. Tower, with all his painstaking and conscientious 
 labor and his great familiarity with the history of the era, 
 in France especially, does not throw much light upon the 
 long-vexed question, What was the overpowering motive 
 which induced La Fayette to leave his country at the time 
 he did to come over and help us? La Fayette, in acknowl- 
 edging the commission of major-general, tells Congress 
 that he considered the cause of the United States that of 
 honor, virtue, and universal happiness. There is no diffi- 
 culty in discovering the nature of the errand of the French 
 officers who were the companions of La Fayette in his ship 
 which brought them here in June, 1777, for the history of 
 the time is full of their complaints about rank and pay and 
 the non-observance of the contract made with them by Mr. 
 Deaue in Paris on behalf of Congress. But it is very clear 
 that La Fa3-ette was not, like these gentlemen, a military 
 adventurer; indeed, it is quite certain that he, of all the 
 Frenchmen who entered our service, could say at its expi- 
 ration, as he had done when he made the agreement with 
 Deane in 1770, that he proposed to serve " the United States 
 with all possible zeal, without any pension or particular 
 allowance." The commissioners, Dr. Franklin and Mr. 
 Deane, in a letter to Congress of 25th May, 1777, speak of 
 him as " a young nobleman of great family connexions here 
 
" The Jlarquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution" 11 
 
 and of great wealth, who has gone to America in his own 
 ship to serve in our armies." They say notliing of his 
 patriotic ardor and love of the human race, so commonly 
 regarded by French writers as essential to a great hero. 
 In the absence of any other motive assigned for leaving his 
 young wife and the other members of his familj', his diso- 
 bedience to the order of the Kinsr, and his abandoning all 
 hope of military promotion at home, we are inclined to think, 
 judging from his subsequent history, that the motive which 
 he assigned for his conduct was the grand and noble, yet 
 simple and prosaic, one of devotion to public duty. He 
 landed, as is well known, after a long voyage, on the coast 
 of Carolina, and from thence he pursued his long and toil- 
 some way by land to Philadelphia. On his arrival, he and 
 his companions were much surprised and discouraged by 
 the reception they met with. Mr. Deane, the officers 
 were told, had gone far beyond his instructions in making 
 contracts with those who desired to enter the American 
 service, especially by attempting to provide commissions 
 in our army for them. The position of Congress was one 
 of great delicacy and diiEculty. It was embarrassed by 
 Mr. Deane's promises, not merely because no new offi- 
 cers were needed, but also because their appointment in 
 accordance with the promise made by Deane would 
 make them outrank the American officers, who from the 
 beginning had borne the burden and heat of the day, and 
 who were in most cases quite as competent for their work 
 as those who sought to supersede them. Besides, although 
 La Fayette professed his disinterestedness, j-et Congress 
 could not shut its eyes to the fact that he was, after all, 
 only a runaway French officer, whose appointment in our 
 army might produce at the Court of France a most unfavor- 
 able impression at a time when we were negotiating for a 
 close alliance with that power. Tlien, in addition to all 
 this, it was not the practice to make men major-generals 
 who were but nineteen years old, and who, of course, had 
 had no militar\' experience. We were then, it must be re- 
 membered, absolutely dependent for our military supplies 
 
12 " The Marrjui* de Ln Fayette in the Ainenvan lievolution." 
 
 u\<i>u France, and they had been purcliased in tliat country 
 for us by Mr. Dcane. Deane was not only our purchasing 
 aijont, l)ut he assumed to be to a larsre number of French 
 olKcors wiio desired to enter into our service authorized to 
 issue military commissions to them. As lie had received 
 no such instructions from our government and no authority 
 from France to confer these commissions in that country, 
 his heedless conduct had to be disavowed. We had proba- 
 bly discovered how small a matter might derange all our 
 calcuhitions at that time. Vergennes, who had always been 
 our friend, had in the summer of 1770 gone so far as to 
 induce Spain, under the obligations of the Bourbon family 
 compact, openly to join in an alliance with France to aid 
 us by declaring war with Great Britain, and even to con- 
 tribute a million of livres towards helping us ; but the news 
 arriving of the loss of the battle of Long Island, the whole 
 scheme collapsed, and the next document which we find in 
 regard to the relations of France and Spain to Great Britain 
 shows by what a slender thread we were bound to them. 
 It is at the same time, perhaps, one of the most curious 
 specimens of diplomatic lying in history. It is a note from 
 Vergennes to the British ambassador in Paris. 
 
 Sir, — I am deei)ly touched by the attention of your Excellency in 
 permitting me to share with you the joy you feel at the happy news of 
 the successes of tiie British arms in Connecticut and in New York. I 
 beg your Excellency to accept my thanks for this proof of friendship, 
 and Miy sincere congratulations upon an event so likely to contribute 
 towards the re-establishment of jieace in that quarter of the globe. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 De Veruenses. 
 
 Under circumstances such as these Congress may well 
 have been embarrassed, and the members who tried to 
 speak French with La Fayette's companions were certainly 
 not cordial ; but it seemed that there was no alternative, 
 and the extraordinary step was taken, July 31, 1777, of 
 making a boy of nineteen years of age a major-general, iu 
 
" The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution." 13 
 
 " consideration," as the resolution stated, " of his zeal, il- 
 lustrious famil}', and connections." It is true that in order 
 to save appearances the appointment was called an honorary 
 one. Kalb and his other friends at first sought commis- 
 sions in vain, but within a short time, probably at the 
 earnest request of La Fayette himself, Kalb was made a 
 major-general, his commission bearing the same date as 
 that of La Fayette. There seems to have been a certain 
 fascination about La Fayette at this time which carried 
 beyond the bounds of prudence in this matter the mem- 
 bers of the Continental Congress. Even Washington him- 
 self does not seem to have escaped the contagion of 
 that sympathy which everywhere surrounded him. The 
 first time he saw him he .treated him as his own son, and 
 begged that he would make the quarters of the Commander- 
 in-Chief his home. Nothing is more curious and interest- 
 ing about this book of Mr. Tower than the new light which 
 his account of the relations between Washington and La 
 Fayette throws upon the characteristics of the former. To 
 him Washington does not appear as the cold, reserved, 
 dignified personage whom he is justly represented to be in 
 his intercourse with others. In every letter which he writes 
 to La Fayette the gentle, affectionate, and tender side of his 
 nature is most conspicuous, and La Fayette received it all 
 with a loving, filial reverence which showed how he valued 
 the absolute confidence which the great chief reposed in 
 him. All his letters breathe the same spirit. Indeed, the 
 affectionate relations between Washington and La Fayette, 
 continuing without a break for nearly a quarter of a cen- 
 tury, seem unparalleled in the history of the former's life. 
 
 At this time (August, 1777) Washington was about to 
 begin at Brandywine the campaign which ended at Mon- 
 mouth. It was on his way to the battle of Brandywine 
 that Washington first saw him, and he served there as a 
 volunteer, but without any command. In an attempt to 
 rally the fugitives from that field he was wounded in the 
 leg. The incident is principally remarkable for the tender 
 care with which Washington caused him to be looked after 
 
1 I " The Martjuk de La Fayette in the ArMrican RevdtUion." 
 
 at Bethlehem, wliither he had been transferred, and wliere 
 liie convalescence was tcdioun. 
 
 It is inipo8«ililc to give liere a detailed account of all the 
 acts of gallantry by which he gained distinction during this 
 campaign. One result followed which gratified the young 
 man's ambition. By reason of his conspicuous good conduct 
 his coinniaiul was exchanged from a nominal to a real one. 
 His services are thus spoken of in a letter from Washington 
 to Franklin, introducing him on his return, on furlough, to 
 Paris. " The generous motives," he says, " which first in- 
 duced him to cross the Atlantic, the tribute which he paid 
 to galliiiitry at Bnindywinc, his success in Jersey before he 
 had recovered from his wounds, in an affair where he com- 
 manded militia against British grenadiers (Gloucester), the 
 brilliant retreat by which he eluded a combined mana-uvre 
 of the whole British force in the last campaign (Barren 
 Hill), his services in the enterprise against Rhode Island, are 
 such proofs of his zeal, military ardor, and talents as have 
 endeared him to America and must greath' recommend him 
 to his Prince." In all these actions there is to be observed 
 a growing attachment to the cause of the United States 
 and an increasing capacity and desire to serve them. The 
 period during this campaign in which he was able to show 
 his zeal in their service was hardly more than a year; and 
 the man who did this work of which Washington speaks 
 had not reached his twenty-first year. Our army at that 
 time had many otKcers of high rank who were of foreign 
 birth; but what a contrast there is between the arrogant 
 pretensions and scarcely concealed treason of such men as 
 Gates, Charles Lee, Conway, and other conspirators, and La 
 Fayette ! He was subjected to the greatest degree of dis- 
 comfort during the cam]iaign, and. what was f:ir worse, to 
 the insulting conduct of Sullivan towards the French auxil- 
 iaries under D'Estaing; hut nothing cooled his enthusiasm 
 or swerved him from the ])lain path of duty. 
 
 At the end of the campaign of 1778, La Fayette obtained 
 leave of absence, and returned to France with the double pur- 
 pose of seeking pardon for the oftence he had committed in 
 
" The Marquis de La Fayette in the Amoican Revolution." 15 
 
 quitting the kingdom against the orders of the King, and of 
 striving to help forward the cause of the colonies. Although 
 the Congress and the army were loath to part with him, 
 there was a strong conviction that he could induce the 
 French government to lend us money and help us with sup- 
 plies, although, strange to say, no re-enforcements of troops 
 were asked for. It is strange that while every one felt the 
 greatest confidence in La Fayette, the conduct of the Freuch 
 troops brought by D'Estaing had not been such as to lead us 
 to desire that any more auxiliaries of that kind should be 
 sent us. 
 
 In the year 1779 we are inclined to look upon La Fayette 
 as quite as much of an American minister in France as 
 was Dr. Franklin ; and that implies what may appear a 
 somewhat extravagant estimate of his services. He was, 
 of course, received in his own country as a national hero, 
 not merely by the liberal party, but by all who were dis- 
 tinguished by rank or power in the kingdom. It was 
 necessary that he should be forgiven by the King for his 
 disobedience in going to America before appearing at 
 Court ; but the douce reprimande which he received was 
 in ludicrous contrast with the enthusiasm which his pres- 
 ence and his account of the American war ever3'where 
 excited. He soon became the chosen adviser of De Ver- 
 gennes as to the mode of carrying on the war, and to him 
 we owe perhaps more than any one else that measure 
 which sent to our aid, under Rochambeau, a second body 
 of nearly five thousand troops adequately supported by a 
 large fleet. 
 
 One of the many excellent qualities in Mr. Tower's book 
 is the orderly manner in which he arranges in due course 
 of time the services of La Fayette. We have seen what he 
 did for us on the battle-fields of 1777-78, and we now come 
 to what Tnay be properly called his diplomatic work in 
 France during the j-ear 1779, — a work which in the end 
 resulted in gaining us the all-powerful aid of France and 
 practically terminated the war. We are not to forget that 
 the same qualities in La Fayette which inspired confidence 
 
IG " The }f(irqnU (!<• Im Fayelle in the Amerlcnn lievolultov." 
 
 in \Va9hiii<,'toii — his honesty, truthfulness, earnestness, and 
 courage — were jirecisely those which won over De Ver- 
 gennes to the great scheme which he lia<l in contemphition 
 when he sent out tiic expedition of Rochanilicau to our 
 assistance. La Fayette reached France in February, 1779, 
 and lie lost no time nor any o])porf unity of urging the claims 
 of tiie Americans in the proper quarters to so great a degree 
 that we observe that Mr. Tower is of opinion " that during 
 this year his enthusiasm and his ceaseless representations" 
 in our behalf before the Cabinet and the King kept the 
 cause of the American Revolution alive in France. He 
 brought together and set in "operation all the forces that 
 could be e.Kcrted in our favor; he filled men's minds with 
 his own enthusiasm; lie intensified the hatred of his coun- 
 trymen against England; he invoked the glory of France; he 
 appealed to the most effective impulses of his people, always 
 with one object in view, — to send help to America." He 
 was soon appointed, through the influence of the Queen, to 
 the conuiiand of a regiment in the King's service, and for 
 several months he was in constant association with De Ver- 
 gennes, aiding him in making arrangements for the second 
 expedition. It would seem that La Fayette had some ex- 
 pectation that he would be appointed to the command of 
 this army; but his youth, as well as his comparatively low 
 rank in the French army, did not permit the authorities to 
 place him, according to French military traditions, in such 
 a position. Rochambeau was a veteran and a thorough 
 disciplinarian, and the result of the campaign fully justified 
 his selection. This was only one of the many occasions on 
 which La Fayette took an active part in the etfort to weaken 
 the power of England, although it cost him constant self- 
 denial and the sacrifice of his pretensions as a soldier. 
 During the year 1779 an attem[it was made by the French 
 authorities to foment a rebellion in Ireland as well as to 
 organize on a grand scale a scheme for the invasion of 
 England. For this latter purpose a large army had been 
 collected in Normandy, which was to be conveyed to Eng- 
 land, a formidable combined fleet of France and Spain 
 
" The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution." 17 
 
 serving as an escort to the expedition. Both of these 
 schemes (in which La Fayette acted as aide marechal-general 
 des logis, or quartermaster-general) came to naught, and 
 then the important expedition of Rochambeau was made 
 ready for embarkation. The suggestion that tliis army 
 should be sent came from Vergennes, although Congress 
 had not asked for a re-enforcement of French troops, for 
 reasons which have been already given. 
 
 The instructions given to the Count de Rochambeau for 
 the conduct of this expedition, and especially for his constant 
 co-operation with the troops of Washington, were prepared 
 by La Fayette. If the re-enforcement which the French sent 
 us at that time was of any real service in the campaign which 
 culminated in the successful siege of Yorktown, if the com- 
 mander particularly showed special wisdom in following the 
 instructions which directed him to put his forces under the 
 immediate command of Washington, the credit is chiefly, 
 we should never forget, due to La Fayette, whose influence 
 was based on the knowledge of the Americans which he 
 had acquired during his residence in this country and to 
 his determination to avoid the causes of irritation which 
 had made D'Estaing's eftbrt to help us a failure. But he 
 was not satisfied with warning Rochambeau of the possi- 
 bility of being embarrassed in his operations by the ab- 
 sence of sympathy on the part of the Americans. On this 
 point the French general was made fully aware of the 
 obstacles he had to encounter. La Fayette determined to 
 return to America and to use to the utmost his influence 
 for the success of the expedition ; to employ not only all 
 his zeal, but all the skill which he had acquired by ex- 
 perience for disabusing the Americans of the prejudices 
 which they would certainly feel when called to act in co- 
 operation with the French. He reached Boston in April, 
 1780, and at once sought the General-in-Chief, who was 
 then encamped at Morristown. The character of the re- 
 enforcements soon to arrive, and the determination of the 
 French government to place them completely under the 
 control of Washington (the suggestion of La Fayette), as 
 
18 " The Marqim dc La FaycUe in (he American RevoltUion." 
 
 well ns the general dispositioti of the King and the ministry 
 in regard to the aid tiiey were to give us, must have been 
 particularly grateful to Washington at that gloomy time, 
 when our domestic resoiirces seemed so badly managed that 
 we had nearly' reached the point of exhaustion. At that 
 time, as La Fayette said in a letter to President Reed, of 
 Pennsylvania, " An army reduced to nothing, that wants 
 provisions, that has not one of the necessary means to make 
 war ! Such is the situation wherein I found our troops, 
 and however prepared I might be for this unhappy sight 
 by our past distresses, I confess that I had no idea of such 
 an extremity." La Fayette was sent by Wiishington, as a 
 most confidential agent and interpreter of his wishes, to 
 Rochambeau and the Chevalier de Ternay, with instructions 
 that the fleet should leave Newport at once and endeavor, 
 in co-operation with his own forces, to reduce New York. 
 But he found the French fleet blockaded by Ailmiral Graves 
 at Newport, and of course the French commander was un- 
 able to follow these instructions. The English having 
 abandoned their plan of reconquering Rhode Island, how- 
 ever, an effort was made to secure the co-operation of the 
 French in an attack on New York. The result was that, 
 notwithstanding all the efforts of La Faj'ctte to accomplish 
 this object, it was found impossible to secure the aid of the 
 French squadron and troops, and hence it was found neces- 
 sary for the time to abandon the project. 
 
 All this disappointment, as tlie only result so far of the 
 intervention of France, it was hard for both La Fayette 
 and Washington to bear patiently, but they were men 
 neither of whom ever permitted himself to despair of the 
 republic. La Fayette was soon appointed to the command 
 of a body of choice troops, who were sent to the tide-water 
 rivers of Virginia in order to capture Arnold, who had 
 been sent there on what was apparently a simple maraud- 
 ing expedition, and whose capture appears at all times to 
 have been the most burning desire of Washington's heart. 
 AVhile this expedition was in preparation, La Fayette, never 
 inactive, was urging Vergennes to send the Americans tho 
 
" The. Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution." 19 
 
 money of which thejwere so sorely in need, and commend- 
 ing John Laurens, the agent of Congress, to the favorable 
 reception of the French cabinet. He at last embarked his 
 troops at the Head of Elk; but here again the jealousy or 
 inactivity of the French squadron under Des Touches de- 
 feated his plans. He was so long in reaching the entrance 
 of Chesapeake Bay that he was unable to succor La Fayette's 
 expedition against Arnold. A serious engagement between 
 the fleets had so much injured both that neither could much 
 aid the land forces until they were repaired. La Fayette 
 was then directed again to march into Virginia, this time 
 not merely to protect that State against the raids made by 
 the enemy, but also to succor General Greene, who was 
 then retiring before Cornwallis. It was utterl}- impossible 
 for his small array to take the field until the men were 
 properly clothed ; but such was the penury of the treasury, 
 and such the disinterested patriotism of La Fayette, that he 
 borrowed in Baltimore for the public service two thousand 
 guineas, giving his private obligation to return the money. 
 At this very time of extreme distress it may be said that 
 Louis XVI. had agreed to advance to the United States six 
 millions of livres toiirnois, and to direct the Comte de Grasse, 
 in command of the French squadron in the West Indies, to 
 cruise ofi'the coast of America during the next autumn. It 
 was hoped that this fleet, co-operating with the other forces 
 in that region, would interrupt the communication between 
 the British forces in Virginia and their squadron at New 
 York. Little could La Fayette or any friend of indepen- 
 dence feel that when he was setting out on his Virginia ex- 
 pedition he was entering upon the beginning of the end of 
 the American war. 
 
 One of the most valuable portions of Mr. Tower's book 
 is his description of this campaign in Virginia. It is im- 
 possible here to follow him into all the details of La 
 Fayette's operations, but this minute and accurate account 
 of his wearisome marches with a very inadequate force, his 
 main object being rather to defeat the plundering schemes 
 of the enemy than to bring him into action, proves, if any 
 
20 " The Marquis de Im Faydte in the American BevoliUion." 
 
 proof was iieedt'd, liow competent La Fayette was at that 
 time to be placed in charge of an independent command. 
 His movements, delineated upon clear and admirable maps, 
 can be traced in Mr. Tower's book from day to day without 
 diflioulty. At no time, even after he was joined by Wajne 
 with his eight hundred Pcnusylvanians, did his force ex- 
 ceed a greater number than two thousaml eft'ectives ; yet 
 with this little army he succeeded in driving Coriiwallis to 
 Yorktown, where the French army and the French fleet, 
 at last in co-operation with our forces, cut him off from all 
 succor and forced liim to surrender. 
 
 The details of these marches and countermarches through 
 the swamps and forests of Virginia are extremely well de- 
 scribed. It is true that La Fayette failed in liis efforts to 
 prevent the junction of Cornwallis and Arnold at Peters- 
 burg ; that he was obliged to evacuate Richmond, which soon 
 afterwards was burned by the enemy: that he found it impos- 
 sible to collect for his assistance any large body of Virginia 
 militia ; still, he persisted in actively pursuing the predatory 
 bands of the enemy and liarassing the small parties of his 
 troops which were sent on expeditions to destroy the mili- 
 tary stores. His letters are full of his desire that he should 
 be soon joined by "Wayne, and his firm conviction evidently 
 was that with their united force they could soon bring to a 
 close the partisan warfare waged by Cornwallis in Virginia. 
 He little knew that at this very time Wayne was striving to 
 gather together at York, Pennsylvania, the regiments with 
 which he was ordered to help him, in the face of difficulties 
 almost insuperable ; that he was surrounded by mutinous sol- 
 diers incensed beyond endurance because neither the pay nor 
 the clothing which had been promised them on their enlist- 
 ment bad been provided, and that before he could reduce his 
 soldiers to discipline he had been forced to hang several of 
 the mutineers. In the mean time, of course, disaster over- 
 took the troops of La Fayette ; but what else was to be ex- 
 pected when the eneniy outnumbered him so greatly? 
 Wayne finally joined him on the south side of the Rappa- 
 hannock, on the 10th of June, with three Pennsylvania 
 
" The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution." 21 
 
 regiments and a detachment of artillery consisting of six 
 field-pieces. As soon as he was joined by "Wayne's troops 
 he marched to the south and put an end to the kind of war- 
 fare in which the enemy had been engaged. As Mr. Tower 
 says, " It was the presence of La Fayette with his little 
 band which interrupted the destruction of public stores and 
 disappointed Coruwallis in the results of his expedition. It 
 was indeed he, with his cautious movements, his never-fail- 
 ing watchfulness, his soldierly conduct, and his skill in 
 manoeuvring in the face of his antagonist, which prevented 
 the complete subjugation of the country." As soon as he 
 was joined by Wayne, Cornwallis seemed to have changed 
 places with him, evacuating Richmond, and keeping down 
 the Peninsula towards "Williamsburg, followed closely by 
 the Americans. The skirmishes along this route were fre- 
 quent, and, if they did nothing else, they made vain the boast 
 of Cornwallis that he had conquered Virginia. Wayne's 
 men, and particularly Butler's regiment, seem to have had 
 their full share of the glory reaped on these occasions. 
 The battle of Green Spring, fought on the 6th of July, was 
 the most formidable engagement between Cornwallis and La 
 Fayette during the campaign, and it shows to what perfec- 
 tion of discipline the Marquis had brought his Continental 
 troops during the wearisome marches of the last few months 
 in "V^irginia. La Fayette followed closely on the rear of 
 the British force to Williamsburg, and it was soon reported 
 that Cornwallis was about to cross the James River, or 
 rather that a large portion of his force had already done 
 so. "Under this impression a detachment of the American 
 army was sent forward under General Wayne to reconnoitre 
 the position of the rear-guard, and if occasion offered to 
 attack it. This detachment had driven in some outlying 
 parties of cavalry next the pickets, when La Fayette, to as- 
 sure himself of the nature of the force he was about to 
 attack, reached by a circuitous route a hill, from the sum- 
 mit of which he discovered the whole British army arrayed 
 in line, the force in front of Wayne constituting only a 
 small portion of it. He returned instantly to Wayne with 
 
22 " The ManjuiH de Lii Fayeile in the Ainericdti Revolution." 
 
 this infonnatioi), and found liini liotly enj;agcd with the 
 advaiicc-guunl and the whole British force coming on to 
 aid tlicni. Tiie flanks of the Americans were already 
 turned, and they were in imminent danger. It was then 
 that Wayne, with his gallant Pennsylvanians commanded by 
 Butler, Ilarmar, and Stewart, " with the instinct of a leader 
 and the courage of a lion," determined to advance and 
 charge, although the enemy's troops numbered five times 
 as many as his own. lie succeeded so far as to escape the 
 consequences of such a surprise, and retreated across the 
 swam]), where his command joined the militia wlio had not 
 been in the combat. 
 
 This charge at Green Spring has always been looked 
 npon as, next to the assault at Stony Point, the most bril- 
 liant example of the characteristics of Wayne's military 
 genius. He was, it must be remembered, in no way respon- 
 sible for being so near the British army as it turned out 
 that he was. While liis superior officer, La Fayette, was 
 reconnoitring, he was confronted by what all supposed to 
 be a small force, but whicli proved to be the whole British 
 army. Under the circumstances he was forced to surrender 
 or to charge, and cliarge he did on his own responsibility 
 and without orders. Certainly the glory of La Fayette rests 
 on too solid a foundation to make it necessary to ascribe to 
 liim in any way the credit which may be due to this won- 
 derful exploit of Wayne. 
 
 We have no room to enlarge upon the anxieties caused 
 during this eventful summer by the fear that Cornwallis, 
 who had reached Portsmouth in safety, might give further 
 trouble by an attack on some point where he was least ex- 
 pected. Meantime the British commander, under the orders 
 of Sir Henry Clinton at New York, had taken post at 
 Yorktown, and La Fayette's heart was gladdened by the 
 arrival of the fleet of the Comte de Grasse and the confi- 
 dential message from Washington that he, with the army 
 of Rochambeau, would march to Virginia, and, in co-opera- 
 tion with the French fleet and the troops which it had 
 brought and La Favette's war-worn veterans, share in the 
 
 ^.^''■ 
 
" The Marquis de La Fayette in the American Revolution." 23 
 
 glory of the siege of Yorktown, by which the war, it was 
 hoped, would be brought to a close. 
 
 The plans of Washington for the co-operation of the 
 French forces with his own proved successful, his army, 
 accompanied by the French troops under Rochambeau, 
 having reached the mouth of the James River, where they 
 were met by a portion of the French fleet from Newport 
 and the West India squadron under the Comte de Grasse, 
 with more than three thousand troops under Saint-Simon 
 and the troops under La Fayette. Cornwallis found him- 
 self completely entrapped at Yorktown, and, after trying 
 to make a resistance, — hopeless from the first, — surren- 
 dered. With the surrender at Yorktown, La Fayette's 
 militar}- services to the United States ceased, and the first 
 chapter of one of the most eventful lives of the past cen- 
 tury was brought to a close. We must leave him here in 
 all the fulness and freshness of the fame he had acquired 
 in aiding to bring into existence the j-oungest and not the 
 least powerful of the great nations of the world. 
 
 And we cannot close without congratulating all students 
 of American history that Mr. Tower has set the example 
 which they have long looked for with hopeless desire, — 
 that of a man who knows how history should be written, 
 and who does not shrink from the labor of going to the 
 original sources of the story which he has to tell. 
 
 Charles J. Stille. 
 
LIBRftRV OF CONGRESS 
 
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