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.
(441)
442
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
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
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.
444
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
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
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,
446
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
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-
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
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
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
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
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.