The Boys Life of Lafayette 8

The Boys Life of Lafayette 8

AN AMERICAN PILGRIMAGE

 

 

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

 

AN ASTONISHING RECEPTION

 

 

All Lafayette's company had been looking forward to their reception

by Congress as full recompense for sufferings by the way. Knowing

that they had come to offer help, and having already experienced the

hospitality of Charleston, they dreamed of a similar welcome increased

and made more effective by official authority. They hastened to present

their letters of introduction and their credentials; and it was a

great blow to find that they were met, not with enthusiasm, but with

coldness. Lafayette said their reception was "more like a dismissal."

We are indebted to the Chevalier du Buisson for an account of this

unexpected rebuff. "After having brushed ourselves up a little we went

to see the President of Congress, to whom we presented our letters

of recommendation and also our contracts. He sent us to Mr. Moose

[Morris?], a member of Congress, who made an appointment to meet us

on the following day at the door of Congress, and in the mean time

our papers were to be read and examined." Next day they were very

punctual, but were made to wait a long time before "Mr. Moose" appeared

[Pg 65]with a Mr. Lovell and told them all communication must be made

through him. Sti