Ohio History Journal

HERE IS LA FAYETTE

 

BY JOHN MERRILL WEED

 

"La Fayette, we are here," said General Pershing as

he stood beside the tomb in Picpus Cemetery one historic

day in 1917. It was a dramatic incident. It shows that

Pershing had a quality that would scarcely have been

suspected in a doughty warrior, a flair for capturing the

popular imagination of two nations. It is not a legend;

it is too recent for that. Moreover, we have a statement

from the General's headquarters staff attesting the

words spoken.

Pershing's utterance and its enthusiastic reception

show clearly that La Fayette symbolizes the aid of

France to the Colonies in their Revolutionary War. We

do not think of that assistance as the act of a nation; we

think of it as the work of La Fayette.

In the United States, which takes its heroes seriously,

La Fayette sums up youth and adventure, the romance

of the War for Independence. We revere Washington,

we honor Franklin, we are intrigued by La Fayette. He

was the Lindbergh of the eighteenth century.

Such a glamorous figure seems unreal. We can

hardly believe that La Fayette really lived. Neverthe-

less he did live, a long and adventurous life, that termi-

nated just a hundred years ago. His death occurred at

Paris on the twentieth of May, 1834.

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As La Fayette died only a hundred years ago and

that was fifty-eight years after the signing of the Decla-

ration of Independence, a little calculation will show that

either he was a very old man when he died or he was

very young when he came over to fight for American

liberty. He was young. When this amazing adven-

turer presented himself to the Continental Congress at

Philadelphia and asked for confirmation of the rank of

major general promised him by the American agent at

Paris, he was not yet twenty. No wonder Congress

refused. It was becoming a little tiresome, anyhow, this

influx of foreigners asking for all the important posts in

the Continental army. But La Fayette persisted. He

would volunteer. He would pay his own expenses. He

would do almost anything if Congress would only con-

firm his appointment.

There must have been something winning in the man-

ner of this tall, awkward boy with the sloping forehead

and red hair. Besides he was rich and a member of a

noble family in a nation that was a possible ally. Con-

gress accepted the offer, but wisely withheld a command

from the youthful major general. That was to come

later, after the boy had proved his worth.

Those who wish to attribute La Fayette's devotion

to the American cause to early-formed convictions are

at liberty to do so. It is probable, however--and this is

not derogatory--that the young marquis was led by a

longing for adventure as much as by youthful idealism.

To put it bluntly, he may have wanted to get away from

home. That point is worth considering. The marquis

had been married at the age of sixteen to a girl of four-

teen, one of the conditions of the marriage being that

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Here Is La Fayette           443

the young couple should live for a year under the pro-

tecting wing of the bride's parents, and it is not unrea-

sonable to suppose that the lad chafed under the re-

straint of too much domesticity. He had been deprived

of the chance to be a boy. What was the fun of being

cooped up at home, with a maze of court duties and

other social affairs to fuss over ? Even a military career,

with everything cut and dried and no good war in pros-

pect, was pretty boring.

By those assumptions, it can be seen that La Fa-

yette's joining the Colonies was a perfectly natural thing.

He was just a normal boy, thirsting for adventure. It

was different when he became a hero; then it was dis-

covered that he had principles and he had to live up to

them. Character undoubtedly influences action, but cir-

cumstances go a long way to form character.

This perfectly normal boy was born September 6,

1757, in Auvergne, a rugged district of east central

France. His family was old and distinguished. There

is no doubt about that, for the baptismal registry de-

scribes him as "the very high and very mighty lord

Monseigneur Marie Joseph Paul Roch Yves Gilbert du

Motier de La Fayette, legitimate son of the very high

and very mighty lord Monsiegneur Michel Louis Chris-

tophe Roch Gilbert Du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette,

Baron de Vissac, lord of Saint Romain and other places,

and of the very high and very mighty lady Madame

Marie Louise Julie de la Riviere."

There you have it; the family name was du Motier,

and La Fayette was only the title. Selecting one from

the string of given names, the family called the little boy

Gilbert.

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Before Gilbert was two years old he succeeded to the

title when his father was killed at the Battle of Minden

in 1759. The army was the accepted career for the no-

bility, and the mortality was high. That state of af-

fairs seems to have been accepted with a sort of dumb

resignation. Gilbert grew up with no other thought

than that he too would become a soldier and run the

risk of dying young.

At eleven the young marquis went to live with his

mother in Paris, and when she died he inherited her

fortune. At thirteen he was very rich, a marquis, and

known at court. His great-grandfather, a gay and

crafty old gentleman, took charge of his education, a

military one, of course.

A biography of La Fayette for children goes to some

pains to explain that his marriage at sixteen probably

wouldn't have been permitted if his parents had been

living. That's problematical. The affair was arranged

by Gilbert's great-grandfather and by the father of the

fourteen-year-old Adrienne, who belonged to the power-

ful Noailles family. The children did as they were bid.

There was little romance about it.

So it is not to be wondered at that a couple of years

later, though he loved his wife and little daughter, La

Fayette was ready to cross the Atlantic to help the Amer-

icans fight for liberty. The responsibility of being a

husband and father hadn't destroyed the boy's longing

for adventure.

Strangely enough, it was a brother of King George

the Third who first brought the American war to La

Fayette's attention. It happened at Metz where the

brother, the Duke of Gloucester, was entertained by the

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Here Is La Fayette           445

officers of La Fayette's regiment. La Fayette's mind

was made up. He kept his plans secret from his family,

but began negotiations for getting a commission in the

American army. Everything had to be sub-rosa, for

France, though not averse to getting revenge on Eng-

land for the loss of Canada, was theoretically a neutral

and must keep up appearances. Other adventurers were

planning to go also. The moving spirit in the affair was

a German soldier of fortune who called himself Baron

de Kalb, though he wasn't a baron at all.

The major generalship was promised and La Fa-

yette was about ready to sail when, suddenly, the French

government--at England's request--declared an em-

bargo on ships leaving for America. The jig was up.

But not for a young blood like La Fayette. He would

buy a vessel of his own. The ship was purchased and

named Victoire--"victory." While she was being out-

fitted at Bordeaux, the marquis, to allay suspicion,

slipped over to England for a visit and was even pre-

sented to his majesty, George III. On his return to

France he went to Bordeaux, without even stopping to

say goodbye to his wife and daughter. There he hesi-

tated, waiting for a reply to a letter he had written "dear

Papa" as he addressed Adrienne's father, probably hop-

ing for the parental blessing. Instead came a govern-

ment order not to go. That heightened the adventure.

La Fayette had to disguise himself and flee to Los Pas-

sages in Spain, whence he sailed away on the twentieth

of April, 1777.

Voyages were long in those days. It was June 13th

before La Fayette reached America, near Charleston,

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South Carolina. Here he outfitted himself and set out

by land for Philadelphia.

With the roads as poor as they were in colonial

times, the wonder is that people were able to do as much

traveling as they did. La Fayette's party had a hard

time. The carriages gave out and so did the horses.

Nevertheless, on July 27 La Fayette reached Philadel-

phia and asked for his commission.

The next day after being made a major general, La

Fayette met Washington, who took a liking to him and

invited him to become a member of the "family" as the

staff was called. It was a great piece of luck for the

young fellow. All he needed now was to show that he

had something in him.

Things worked out excellently for La Fayette. In

September there was the Battle of the Brandywine, and

he was wounded in the fleshy part of the leg, just the

right kind of wound to make a man a hero without per-

manently injuring him. He recovered nicely. In No-

vember he won a small victory at Gloucester near Phila-

delphia and Washington recommended him for a com-

mand. He spent the winter at Valley Forge.

La Fayette's loyalty to Washington, besides being a

pleasing trait, was the height of good judgment. It stood

the young man in good stead when his vanity was ap-

pealed to in the intrigues of the Conway cabal. Then

came the glorious news that France was coming into the

war on the side of the Colonies. When the French ar-

rived, La Fayette was invaluable. To him fell the diffi-

cult task of bringing the French officers and Washing-

ton together, seeing to it that the proper ceremonies

were observed, that proper attention was paid to eti-

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Here Is La Fayette            447

quette, that suitable face-saving concessions were taken

care of--all the details that a liaison officer has to look

after. He distinguished himself, as well as one could,

in the indecisive Battle of Monmouth, and took part in

the manoeuvers around Boston. He made one slip; he

lost his head and challenged Lord Carlisle to a duel,

thus giving the Englishman a chance to administer a

royal snub. On the whole, the year 1778 was a satis-

factory one for La Fayette.

Then boyish love for change cropped up. He wanted

to go home for a while. Congress was generous in

granting him leave to go to France and return at his

convenience, so thither he went, arriving at Brest in

February, 1779.   He was twenty-one and famous.

True, he had left against orders, and discipline had to be

maintained. He was ordered imprisoned for a week--

at home, with his wife for jailer.

La Fayette remained in France more than a year.

He was the idol of the country, and he took to glory

easily. He was busy, too, furthering the affairs of the

Colonies, in particular helping to send the sea-dog, John

Paul Jones, to annoy the British in their own waters.

In December his wife presented him with a son who

was named George Washington.

Spring of 1870 found La Fayette again in America.

He was busier than ever keeping the Americans and

their French allies on good terms with each other. In

September, he was one of the judges who sentenced Ma-

jor Andre to death for negotiating with the traitor,

Benedict Arnold. When the campaign season opened

in 1781 Washington sent La Fayette to Virginia, and

there he manoeuvered back and forth, hemming in the

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448     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

British forces until that great day in October when

Cornwallis, bottled up in Yorktown, surrendered to

Washington. The war was over. In December La

Fayette sailed back to France.

It must have been glorious once more to be the hero

at home. La Fayette was royally received, and kept

busy with a round of social duties. He even had an

affair with a certain Madame de Simiane, the sort of

thing that seemed to be expected, He helped carry on the

negotiations for peace. He went to Spain to exact re-

spect for the American representative there. Finally,

after the treaty was signed and everything was settled,

he returned to America, in August, 1784, for a tri-

umphal visit of four and a half months. Everywhere

he was treated with American enthusiasm. By the

action of the Maryland Legislature--later confirmed by

Congress--perpetual American citizenship was con-

ferred on him and his descendants.

To Washington La Fayette had become almost a son.

It is hard to imagine the dignified father of our country

being embraced, but that is what happened at Annapolis

just before the two heroes parted for the last time.

In Europe once more, La Fayette did a bit of travel-

ling. He visited Frederick the Great and inspected that

monarch's troops, and then settled down to being a gen-

tleman and popular hero. That must have become mo-

notonous. When the Bastille fell and the Revolution

got under way, La Fayette joined in enthusiastically;

he was supposed to have American principles and he be-

haved consistently in character. Caught in a wave of

popularity, he commanded the National Guard of Paris,

counseled moderation, and saved the royal family from

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Here Is La Fayette           449

disgrace and death. Then he discovered the fickleness

of popularity. Extremists replaced the moderates. Rea-

lizing his danger, La Fayette fled from France just be-

fore the Terror, with the intention of arranging to have

his family join him in England and settling in America.

He was captured by the Prussians and languished for

five years in German and Austrian jails. The last two

years of his incarceration Adrienne and their daughters

endured prison hardships with him. That devotion

seems to have touched La Fayette's heart; though he

had been a reasonably good husband, he had never

really appreciated his wife before.

At last Napoleon Bonaparte was persuaded, without

enthusiasm, to demand the release of La Fayette as one

of the conditions of peace with Austria. Two years

more of exile, and then, in 1799, La Fayette was permit-

ted to return to France.

Those were trying times for the old republican.

Napoleon was riding rough-shod over Europe and de-

luding himself with the glory of being an emperor.

There was little that La Fayette could do except live on

his country estate--all that remained of his own and his

wife's fortune--and watch history being made without

having much part in it. He became a gentleman farmer

--and prospered. In 1807 Adrienne died. La Fayette

was fifty. The dashing young hero was becoming an old

man. He walked with a limp, the result of a hip broken

by a fall on icy steps. The chance of realizing his dream,

to become the Washington of France, was slipping away.

The break-up of Napoleon's empire, the Hundred

Days, Waterloo--all those amazing events passed with-

out La Fayette's being able to bring about his dream of

Vol. XLIII-29

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450      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

setting up in France a government modeled on that of

his beloved American republic. Like many idealists, La

Fayette was not a good politician. He took part in some

of the deliberations, but at the critical moment he was

pushed aside.

In 1824 he recaptured his youth. It was just forty

years since his triumphal visit to America, and though

he was sixty-seven, he set out, with his son, George

Washington, now middle-aged himself, to revisit the

scenes of his glory. This time the triumph was far

greater. He stayed thirteen months, traveled in every

state--the original thirteen had now become twenty-four

--saw everybody, shook innumerable hands, and listened

to hours of oratory. He was indefatigable. He didn't

say so, but his limp was supposed to be due to that bullet

at the Brandywine. Congress voted him $200,000 and a

township of land--and that when ex-President Jefferson

was forced to sell his library to pay his living expenses.

When La Fayette sailed away, in September, 1825,

he was forced to accept the Government's offer of a

cruiser, for he had a ship-load of presents to take back

to France.

Peace and quiet must have been trying to La Fa-

yette. He was destined for one more season of impor-

tance and glory. The Revolution of 1830 put the nation

in his hands. He could have been president; he might

even have been crowned king. But he hesitated. Per-

haps, after all, the American system would not suit

France. So he threw his support to Louis-Philippe, and

that democratic monarch ascended the throne.

It was not long before La Fayette and Louis were at

outs. The king was confronted with the difficulties, the

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Here Is La Fayette            451

necessities for compromise, that would have troubled La

Fayette had he become president. He was fortunate in

not having accepted that responsibility. Administrative

troubles would have detracted from his glory.

To La Fayette any struggle for liberty was his own

cause. It was no longer a thirst for adventure, it was

principle. He sympathized with the Belgians in their

revolt, with the Poles, with the Italians. Fortunately he

could not involve France in war for oppressed people

anywhere in the world. He had to be content with writ-

ing letters and making speeches. And those duties, to-

gether with ministering courageously to his neighbors

during the cholera epidemic, occupied him the rest of his

life.

When the news of La Fayette's death reached Amer-

ica the nation put on mourning on a scale comparable

with the enthusiasm shown him on the visit of 1824-

1825. The grand climax was the eulogy by ex-Presi-

dent John Quincy Adams before President Jackson and

both houses of Congress in joint session in December,

1834. The meticulous Journal of the House, which

printed the speech, notes that the ceremonies began at

about twelve-forty o'clock and were concluded at three-

thirty. The "Old Man Eloquent" delivered nearly twen-

ty-five thousand words in praise of the departed hero,

and the distinguished audience listened with rapt atten-

tion. No further proof is needed of the Nation's re-

gard for La Fayette.

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