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Over their grave I saw a neat marble slab, erected to their memory by J. F. Watson, Esq., the annalist. In the north burying-ground
American Officers Killed.—Washington and his Officers Honored.—General Stephen.—Whitemarsh.
the same gentleman has set up a stone over the graves of Captain Turner, of North Carolina, Major Irvine, and six soldiers of the American army, who were slain in the battle, and buried there together. General Nash, of North Carolina, * and Majors Sherburne and White, ** the two aids of General Sullivan, were also among the slain.
Although the Americans were defeated, or rather retreated from almost certain victory, no blame was attached to the commander-in-chief and the general officers under his command. On the contrary, when Washington's letter to Congress, describing the battle, wasOctobers 8, 1777read, that body passed a vote of thanks to him for his "wise and well-concerted attack upon the enemy's army near Germantown," and to "the officers and soldiers of the army for their brave exertions on that occasion." *** A medal was also ordered to be struck and presented to General Washington.**** It was never executed.
Lord Cornwallis sped to the succor of the British camp at Germantown as soon as intelligence of the attack upon it reached General Howe. He took with him a corps of cavalry and grenadiers; but when he arrived, the Americans had left, and retired to their campOctober, 1777Skippack Creek. There Washington remained until the 29th, when a council of war was held, (v) and the next day he removed, with the whole army under his command, to the range of hills about three fourths of a mile northeast from the village of Whitemarsh, where he intended to go into winter quarters. Thither we also went on leaving Germantown at noon.
Whitemarsh is situated in a beautiful little valley north of Chestnut Hill, about fourteen miles from Philadelphia, and six from Mount Airy, the upper part of Germantown. The sun glowed warm and bright at midday, and as we passed over Chestnut Hill it revealed many little hamlets in every direction, half hidden behind variegated groves. Descending the northern slope of Chestnut Hill, we passed through Whitemarsh village, and, turning eastward, passed over a lower ridge, crossed a narrow valley watered by the romantic Wissahicon, and skirting the base of a range of gentle, cultivated hills, and arrived at the spacious stone mansion, tottering with age and neglect, where Washington made his headquarters. The house stands upon the edge of a wet meadow, at the head of a fine valley, and was a sort of baronial hall in size and character when Elmar, its wealthy owner at the time of the Revolution, dispensed hospitality to all who came under its roof. It is sixty
* Francis Nash was a captain in North Carolina in 1771, where he distinguished himself in the movements in the western part of the state known as the Regulator War. At the commencement of the Revolution, the convention of North Carolina commissioned him a colonel, and in February, 1777, he was commissioned by Congress a brigadier in the Continental arm. When the intelligence of his death at Germantown reached that body, it was resolved to request Governor Caswell, of North Carolina, "to erect a monument of the value of 500 dollars, at the expense of the United States," in honor of his memory. That monument, like many others, is yet to be erected.
** See note respecting his death at Chew's house upon page 317.
*** General Adam Stephen was an exception. He was accused of "unofficer-like conduct" during the action and the retreat. He was found guilty of being intoxicated, and was dismissed from the army. General Stephen had been a meritorious Virginia officer in the colonial wars. He was a captain in the Ohio expedition in 1754. Afterward raised to the rank of lieutenant colonel, he was intrusted with the command of Fort Cumberland. He was left in command of the Virginia forces while Washington went to Boston on an official errand to Governor Shirley in 1755. He was afterward dispatched to South Carolina to oppose the Creek Indians. On his return, he was placed at the head of troops for the defense of the Virginia frontier, and was commissioned a brigadier. Congress appointed him a major general early in 1777, and he behaved well in the battle of Brandywine. Yielding to a bad habit, he fell into disgrace at Germantown. On the 3d of December, 1777, the Marquis De La Fayette was appointed to the command of General Stephen's division.
**** Journals of Congress, iii., 335.
* (v) General Washington reported to that council that the troops under Sir William Howe at that time, who were stationed in Philadelphia and its immediate vicinity, fit for duty, numbered ten thousand rank and file; and that the force under his own command, and fit for duty, was eight thousand three hundred and thirteen Continental troops, and two thousand seven hundred militia. There were, in addition, seven hundred and fifty Continental troops at Red Bank and Fort Mifflin, and a detachment of three hundred militia on their way to re-enforce these posts. A body of five hundred militia were likewise on the other side of the Schuylkill. This was his whole force, and it was likely soon to suffer a diminution of nearly two thousand by the expiration of the term of service of Maryland and Virginia levies.
Washington's Head quarters at Whitemarsh.—American Encampment.—Skirmish at Whitemarsh.
feet long, twenty-five feet wide, and two stories high. Through the center is a broad passage some fifteen feet wide. The old steps are of fine soap-stone, neatly wrought, and in many particulars the building exhibits marks of former elegance.
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In front, seen by the rough trees on the right, is the ruin of Elmar's ancient spring-house; and just below it is a modern one, in which bubbles up a large fountain of pure water. An old thatched barn near by is said to be a cotemporary of the mansion in its earliest days. At the western gable of the house is a high bean or catalpa tree, the trunk of which measures fifteen feet in circumference. The present owner is Mr. John Fitzwater. With a little care and trifling expense, that venerated house might be preserved a century longer. Its roof was falling in when I visited it, and in a few years its stones will doubtless occupy mean places in the foundation of a more elegant modern mansion, or the partition walls of cultivated fields.
The American encampment was upon the hills north of Elmar's mansion, its right wing resting upon Wissahicon Creek, and its left upon Sandy Run. Near Mather s mill the remains of one of the redoubts are still quite prominent, and in various places in the vicinity may be seen vestiges of the chimneys of numerous huts of log and stone erected by the Americans. Here commenced those sufferings of the soldiers which became so intense during the winter at Valley Forge. Their chief privation was a want of shoes and other clothing. On the 22d of November, Washington, in general orders, offered a reward often dollars to any person who should, by nine o'clock on the morning following, produce the best substitute for shoes made of raw hides. The commissary of hides was to furnish the materials, and the major general of the day was to "judge of the essays, and assign the reward to the best artist." I have seen no record of the result. Raw-hide shoes were worn by a few soldiers on their march to Valley Forge.
Several expeditions were suggested and planned, but a want of shoes rendered a large portion of the army unfit for marching. A council of war was called on the 25th of November, to consider the propriety of making an attack upon Philadelphia while Cornwallis was absent in New Jersey, whither he had gone to take possession of Red Bank and the neighboring region. The decision of the council was a negative, and the scheme was abandoned. Early in December, the enemy attempted to surprise Washington in his camp, but success was denied them by the patriotic service of Lydia Darrah of Philadelphia, noticed on page 301. The British appeared upon Chestnut Hill, about three miles from Washington's camp, at dawn on the morning of the 5th of December. As soon as their position was discovered, the Pennsylvania militia were ordered out to skirmish with their light advanced parties. Brigadier-general Irvine, who led the detachment, was wounded and made prisoner. On the next day (Friday) the enemy changed ground, and approached within a mile of the American lines, where they remained until Sunday, when they moved further to the left, and seemed to be preparing for a general attack. Their advanced and flanking parties were warmly attacked by Colonel Morgan and his rifle corps, and Colonel Gist with the Maryland militia. The battle was quite severe. Twenty-seven men in Morgan's corps were killed and wounded, besides Major Morris, a brave and gallant officer, who was badly maimed. Sixteen or seventeen of the Maryland militia wereDecember, 1777wounded. * The loss of the enemy was considerable. On Monday, the 8th, when
* The Reverend Zachariah Greene, now (1851) living at Hempstead, Long Island, was wounded in this engagement, and carried to Washington's quarters. Mr. Greene was the father-in-law of the late Mr. Thompson, the historian of Long Island.
Retreat of the British to Philadelphia.—Departure of the Americans from Whitemarsh.—Barren Hill.
the movements of the British gave Washington every reason to believe that an immediate attack was to be made, he was surprised to perceive them, instead of advancing, commence a precipitate march, by two routes, for Philadelphia.
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As their adjutant remarked to Mrs. Darrah, they had been on a fool's errand and accomplished nothing. "I sincerely wish," wrote Washington to the president of Congress, "that they had made an attack, as the issue, in all probability, from the disposition of our troops and the strong situation of our camp, would have been fortunate and happy. At the same time, I must add, that reason, prudence, and every principle of policy, forbade us from quitting our post to attack them." General Howe, in his dispatches, said, "They were so strongly intrenched that it was impossible to attack them." They had no other intrenchments than two small redoubts, one on each hill near the head-quarters. Three days afterward Washington broke up his encampment at Whitemarsh, and, in the midst of a deep snow, marched to the Schuylkill, crossed it at Swedes' Ford, and established his winter quarters at Valley Forge. Hundreds of the soldiers made that dreary march of nineteen miles with bare feet, and the pathway of the patriot army might have been traced all the way by hundreds of foot-marks in the snow stained with blood. * Let us follow them thither, and in the head-quarters of the chief, which stands near the banks of the Schuylkill, sit down and ponder upon the wondrous love of country which kept that suffering army together during the winter and spring of 1778.
We left Whitemarsh at about two o'clock for the Schuylkill, passing, on our way, over Barren Hill, the scene of a skillful military movement by La Fayette, with a body of Americans, in May, 1778. Barren Hill is a small village lying upon the western slope of a rough eminence, about four miles west of Whitemarsh. From its summit a fine view of the surrounding country may be obtained. There, on the right of the road leading toward the Schuylkill from Chestnut Hill to Conshohocken (Matson's Ford), is the old Lutheran church which La Fayette occupied as quarters during his brief tarry on the hill. According to an inscription upon a tablet in the western gable, its title is "St. Peter's," and the time of erection 1761. By the road-side near the church is a quaint-looking school-house, covered with stucco. The church, the school-house, and two strong stone houses composed this settlement, then in the wilderness, when La Fayette made it his point of observation, and out-maneuvered General Grant. Within the old church-yard, sitting upon a recumbent sand-stone slab, with half-effaced inscription, I made this sketch; and here let us open the record and receive instruction from the chronicler.
As this is the first time in the course of our journey that wc have met La Fayette as commander-in-chief of an expedition, it is a proper
* Gordon says that, while at Washington's table, in 1784, the chief informed him that bloody foot-prints were every where visible in the course of their march. Such was the distress of the soldiers from want of clothing, that Washington, as a last resort, authorized the proper officers to take by force, for the use of the army, such articles of clothing as the people refused to sell. It must be remembered that the people generally, throughout that section of Pennsylvania, were opposed to the patriots, and did every thing in their power to distress them.
La Fayette.—His first Impulses favorable to the Americans.—His Liberality.—Visit to England.
place to consider the circumstances attending his espousal of the cause of freedom, and his connection with the American Continental army. He was a young man, not yet nineteen years old, when our Declaration of Independence went over the seas, and commanded the admiration of thinkers in the Old World. La Fayette was of noble ancestry. He had just married the Countess Anastasia de Noailles, daughter of the Duke De Noailles, a lady of great personal beauty, immense fortune, and brilliant accomplishments. * When the story of America's wrongs, and of her holy struggle for the right, just begun, reached his ears, it inflamed his young heart with the most passionate sympathy, and an ardent desire to aid them with his purse and sword. ** He openly espoused the cause of the patriots, and resolved to hasten to their support. Not all the blandishments of rank and fortune, the endearments of conjugal love, made doubly so by promise of offspring, nor the sad tales of reverses to the American arms at the close of 1776, which every vessel from our shores carried to Europe, could repress his zeal or deter him from the execution of his noble purpose. He had just offered his services to Silas Deane, one of the American commissioners at Paris, *** when the news arrived that the remnant of the American army, reduced to two thousand insurgents, as they were called, had fled toward Philadelphia through the Jerseys, before an army of thirty thousand British regulars. This news frustrated all the plans of Deane for the moment, for it utterly destroyed the little credit which America then had in Europe. Franklin arrived at this juncture, and was greatly pleased with the young marquis and the disinterested zeal which he exhibited, but honestly advised him to abandon his design until better hope for success should appear. But this candid advice was of no avail. The commissioners had not sufficient credit to command the means to fit out a vessel for the purpose of conveying the marquis and his friends, with arms, ammunition, and stores. La Fayette offered to purchase a ship with his own funds. "Hitherto," he said, in the spirit of true heroism, "I have onlycherishedyour cause; now I am going toserveit. The lower it is in the opinion of the people, the greater effect my departure will have; and since you can not get a vessel, I shall purchase and fit out one, to carry your dispatches to Congress and me to America." **** He went over to London, and mingled freely with the leading politicians there. He danced at the house of Lord George Germaine, the minister for the affairs of America, and at the house of Lord Rawdon, who had just returned from New York, paid his personal respects to the king, and met, at the opera, General Clinton, whom he was afterward to meet on the field of battle at Monmouth. (v) While he concealed his intentions of going to America, he openly avowed his sentiments; often defended the Americans; rejoiced at their success at Trenton; and his opposition spirit obtained for him an invitation to breakfast with Lord Shelburne. He refused invitations to visit sea-ports where
* La Fayette himself had an independent revenue of 200,000 livres—about $37,000.
** In the summer of 1776, La Fayette was stationed on military duty at Mentz, being then, though only a little past eighteen years of age, an officer in the French army. The Duke of Gloucester, brother to the King of England, visited Mentz, and a dinner party was given to him by the commandant of that place. La Fayette was at the table. The duke had just received dispatches from England relating to the Declaration of Independence, the resistance of the colonies, and the strong measures adopted by the British ministry to crush the rebellion, and he made their contents the topic for conversation. The details were new to La Fayette, and he had a long conversation with the duke. The idea of a people fighting for liberty had a strong influence upon his imagination. He regarded their cause as just, their struggle noble, and from that hour his chivalrous enterprise was the chief burden of his thoughts. He returned to Paris, and there perfected his plans.—Sparks's Life and Writings of Washington, v., 445.
*** "When," says La Fayette, "I presented my boyish faee to Mr. Deane, I spoke more of my ardor in the cause than my experience; but I dwelt much upon the effect my departure would excite in France, and he signed our agreements."—See Memoirs, written by himself. La Fayette was accompanied by the Baron De Kalb as interpreter. De Kalb had been commissioned by the Duke De Choiseul to proeced to America for the purpose of ascertaining the condition of the revolted colonies. He came over with La Fayette, and did good service in our army. We shall meet him again on the field of battle near Camden, in South Carolina. La Fayette persuaded Count Segur and Viscount De Noailles to accompany him, but their friends kept them at home. Count Segur accompanied Bonaparte to Moscow in 1812, and has left a thrilling account of that memorable campaign.
**** Gordon, ii., 219
* (v) Pictorial History of the Reign of George the Third, i., 302
La Fayette's Attempts to leave France.—Sketch of his Career.—Sword presented to him by Congress.
vessels were fitting out against the Americans, for he was unwilling to do aught that might, afterward be construed into an abuse of confidence. *
After remaining three weeks in England, La Fayette returned to France, but not to Paris. Information had gone abroad that he was fitting out a vessel for America, at Bordeaux. It was not good policy for the government to allow it.
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He proceeded to Passy, then the residence of Dr. Franklin, where he found the Baron De Kalb. He remained concealed in the baron's house a few days, and then proceeded to Bordeaux. His vessel was not ready, but he felt it neeessary to sail immediately. He left Bordeaux toward the close of February, and proceeded to Passage, a Spanish port, where he awaited the receipt of the ship's papers. There two officers reached him, with an order from the king (lettre, de cachet) prohibiting his departure, and commanding him to repair to Marseilles. He was charged by ministers with violating his oath of allegiance, and by his family with conduct calculated to bring ruin on himself and them. His young wife, however, did not join in their reproaches; she approved of his project, and urged him to persevere.
La Fayette obeyed orders, and returned to Marseilles. He pleaded the justice of the
* Memoirs, written by himself.
* The Marquis (Gilbert Motier *) De La Fayette was born on the 6th of September, 1757, and in 1774, when a little more than seventeen years old, married the Countesse Anastasie de Noailles, daughter of the Duke de Noailles, a young lady possessing an immense fortune. He joined our Revolutionary army in 1777, and with his purse, sword, and counsel, and his influence with the French court, he greatly aided us in our struggle for political independence. In Oetober, 1778, he asked and obtained leave of absence, and returned to France. Congress, in connection with the resolution for granting him a furlough, also resolved, "That the minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America at the court of Versailles be directed to cause an elegant sword, with proper devices, to be made, and presented, in the name of the United States, to La Fayette. Franklin, then minister at the French court, procured the sword, and sent it to the marquis in August, 1779, accompanied by a very complimentary letter from his hand, to which La Fayette feelingly replied. La Fayette returned to America in the spring of 1780, bringing joyful news [see page 87], and was received with great affection. After the capture of Cornwallis, in which he performed a conspicuous part, he again went to France, and, by his own exertions, was raising a large army of allies for America, when intelligence of peace reached him. He returned to America in 1784, and was received with unbounded enthusiasm by his old companions in arms. Again he returned to his native land, bearing the honors and blessings of a free people. From that time until his death he was often a conspicuous actor in the great scenes of his country's history. He was an active member of the Legislative Assembly of France during the stormy period of the incipience and development of its first Revolution, from 1789 to 1793. He was always the advocate of civil liberty, but conservative in his country, where representatives and constituents were alike inordinately radical. When the Revolution was at its height, he was obliged to flee from France, because of his moderation, and, being caught, he was for three years confined in a dungeon at Olmutz, in Germany. He suffered much in person and fortune during the convulsions in France, and for several years previous to 1814 he lived in comparative retirement. The first downfall of Bonaparte brought him again into public life, and in 1815 he was a member of the Chamber of Deputies. In that assembly he offered the resolution for the appointment of a committee to demand the abdication of the emperor. He was again a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1818. In 1824 he accepted an invitation to visit the United States as the guest of the nation. The
*In the Biographie des Hommes his name is written Marie-Paul Joseph-Rock-Yves-Gilbert-Mottiers de La Fayette.
** The following is a copy of the correspondence:
** "Passy, 21th August, 1779.
** "Sir,-The Congress, sensible of your merit toward the United States, but unable adequately to reward it, determined to present you with a sword as a small mark of their grateful acknowledgment. They directed it to be ornamented with suitable devices. Some of the principal actions of the war, in which you distinguished yourself by your bravery and conduct, are therefore represented upon it. These, with a few emblematic figures, all admirably well executed, make its principal value. By the help of the exquisite artists France affords, I find it easy to express every thing but the sense we have of your worth, and our obligations to you. For this, figures, and even words, are found insufficient. I therefore only add, that, with the most perfect esteem, I have the honor to be, &c., B. Franklin
** "P.S. My grandson goes to Havre with the sword, and will have the honor of presenting it to you."
** The marquis, in reply, after acknowledging the presentation of the sword, said: "In some of the devices I can not help finding too honorable a reward for those slight services which, in concert with my fellow-soldiers, and under the god like American hero's orders, I had the good luck to render. The sight of these actions, where I was a witness of American bravery and patriotic spirit. I shall ever enjoy with that pleasure which becomes a heart glowing with love for the nation, and the most ardent zeal for their glory and happiness. Assurances of gratitude, which I beg leave to present to your excellency, are much too inadequate to my feelings, and nothing but those sentiments may properly acknowledge your kindness toward me. The polite manner in which Mr. Franklin was pleased to deliver that estimable sword, lays me under great obligations to him, and demands my particular thanks. With the most perfect respect, 1 have the honor to be, &c., "Lafayette."
Memoir of La Fayette.—Pictorial Devices on his Sword.
cause in which the Americans were engaged; their declared independence as a people, and various precedents which might justify his course, and petitioned for leave to proceed. His pleadings were in vain, and he resolved to risk the displeasure of his king.
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Stealthily mak-
* I here give a fac simile of the pen-and ink sketches, made by a French artist, of devices for the guard of the sword presented to La Fayette. 1 copied from the originals in the archives of the State Department at Washington. Accompanying the sketches is the following description:
* "On one side of the Pommel are the Marquis's army in low relief, and on the other the device of a New Moon reflecting Rays of Light on a Country partly covered with wood and partly cultivated—Symbol of the Republic of the United States—with this motto: Crescam ut prosim. By this it was intended modestly to express,
"1. The present Mediocrity of Strength; as the Light of theMoon, though considerable, is weaker than that of the Sun."2. Her expectation of becoming more Powerful as sheincreases, and thereby rendering herself more useful toMankind."3. The gratitude with which she remembers that the Lightshe spreads is principally owing to the kind aid of a greatLuminary [the King of France, whose symbol is the Sun] inanother Hemisphere."On the Bow is the Legend, 'From the American Congress tothe Marquis De La Fayette, 1779."The Handle is ornamented with two medallions. In one,America, represented by a Woman, presents a Bunch of Laurelto a Frenchman. On the other, a Frenchman is treading on aLion."On the Guard are separately represented, in fine Relievo,"The affair at Gloucester [Yorktown];"The Retreat on Rhode Island;"The Battle of Monmouth;"And the Retreat at Barren Hill."The Hilt is of massive gold, and the Blade two-edged. Costtwo hundred Louis. Made by Liger, Sword-cutler, RueCoquilliere. at Paris.
Arrival of La Fayette in America.—His Biography continued.—His Burial-place.
ing his way back to Passage, he set sail with a favorable wind, accompanied by De Kalb, and eleven other French, German, and Polish officers, who were about seeking service in America. He arrived safely at Georgetown, in South Carolina, on the 19th of April, after a boisterous passage of seven weeks, where he and his company were entertained by Major Huger, who provided horses to convey them to Charleston. His vessel likewise was taken to Charleston harbor. *
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Although the French government secretly favored the plans of La Fayette, as it had not yet publicly expressed even a friendly intention toward America, policy required that it should act in seeming good faith toward Great Britain, with which it was then on terms of amity. Vessels were accordingly dispatched to the West Indies to intercept La Fayette. The marquis apprehended this movement, and avoided the islands in his voyage. His proceedings, in opposition to positive orders, were rash; for the loss of all his property in France, and an indefinite term of imprisonment, might have been the consequence had he been arrested on the high seas.
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In the face of all this immediate and prospective danger, he resolutely persevered, and the French government winked at his disobedience.
La Fayette and his companions traveled by land from Charleston to Philadelphia. When arrived at the latter plaee, he put his letters into the hands of Mr. Lovell, the chair-
* The United Slates vessel of war Brandywine bore him to our shores, and his journey among us was a continued ovation. He was every where received with the most affectionate demonstrations of regard, as next to Washington in the great American heart. Even his grandson, who is now (1850) traveling in this country, has been received with marked public attention on account of his relationship to the great and good man. La Fayette was conspicuous in the Republican Revolution in France in 1830, and generously refused the proffered crown of constitutional monarch, and designated the Duke of Orleans (Louis Philippe) as a proper recipient of the trust. It was unworthily bestowed; for the ungrateful monarch not only treated La Fayette with coldness and disdain, but, by a despotic course, betrayed the confidence of the people. La Fayette died in 1834, at the age of seventy-seven years. His remains rest in the cemetery of Pippers, a private burial-ground of several families of the nobility of Paris, back of the gardens of what was once a nunnery, but now a boarding-school for young ladies. The sketch here given is from a French picture by Champin, which the artist dedicated "To the Americans, the friends of La Fayette." The monument is inclosed by an iron railing. It is about eight feet square, and composed of dark sandstone. The tablets slope from a ridge upon whieh is a cross. The inscriptions are in French. On one side of the tablet is an inscription referring to La Fayette; on the other, to his wife. The cross seen in the picture stands over the grave of another.
* This vessel was afterward laden with rice for the French market, but was foundered on going out of the harbor, and vessel and cargo were lost.
La Fayette's Application to Congress.—His Appointment.—Interview with Washington.—Attached to the Army.
man of the committee of Congress on foreign affairs. The next day his papers were handed back to him by Mr. Lovell, with the remark that so many foreigners had offered themselves for employment that Congress was embarrassed with their applications, and he was sorry to inform him that there was very little hope of his success. The marquis was convinced that his papers had not been read. He immediately sent a note to the president of Congress, in which he asked permission to serve in the Continental army upon two conditions; first, that he should receive no pay; secondly, that he should act as a volunteer. These conditions were so different from those demanded by other foreigners, that they were at once accepted by Congress. Although he was not yet twenty years of age, the peculiar position in which his wealth, fervent zeal, and social eminence at home, placed him before the American people, gave him great importance, and on the 31st of July Congress appointed him a major general in the Continental army. This appointment was considered by Congress as merely honorary, but such was not the intention of the recipient, as subsequent events will show. *
Washington arrived in Philadelphia soon after La Fayette's appointment, and they were first introduced to each other at a dinner party, where several members of Congress were present. When they were about to separate, Washington took the marquis aside, complimented him upon the noble spirit he had manifested toward the cause of the Americans, and invited him to become a member of his military family. His kind invitation was joyfully accepted, and while he remained in America the closest intimacy existed between La Fayette and the commander-in-chief. The marquis joined the army, and continued in it as a volunteer, without any command, until the battle on the Brandywine, two months afterward, where we shall meet him presently fighting with all the zeal of aSeptember 11, 1777champion of liberty.
La Fayette was anxious to have a command suitable to the rank which his commission conferred; but Congress, fearing his appointment to the command of a division might excite the jealousy of American officers, had withheld the coveted honor from the marquis. Washington repeatedly suggested the expediency of a different course; but it was not until the 1st of December that the wishes of La Fayette were gratified. On that day Congress resolved, "That General Washington be informed it is highly agreeable to Congress that the Marquis De La Fayette be appointed to the command of a division in the Continental army." ** Three days afterward it was proclaimed, in publicDecember 4.orders, that he was to take command of the division recently under General Adam
Stephen, who, as we have seen, was dismissed from the army. ***
La Fayette was engaged in various important services during the winter and spring of 1778, while the American army was at Valley Forge; and about the middle of May we find him on Barren Hill, our present point of view. Intelligence had reached Washington in his camp that the British were making preparations to evacuate Philadelphia. They were frequently sending out foraging parties between the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers; and on the 7th of May an expedition went up the Delaware to destroy all the American shipping between Philadelphia and Trenton. Forty-four American vessels were burned; a considerable quantity of provisions and stores were destroyed, and a number of the inhabitants killed and wounded. To restrain these depredations; to cut off all communication in that direction between the country and Philadelphia; to obtain correct information concerning the movements of the enemy; and to be ready to follow with a considerable force immediately in the rear of the British army, when it should leave Philadelphia, Washington
* The following preamble and resolution were adopted: "Whereas the Marquis De La Fayette, out of his great zeal to the cause of liberty, in which the United States are engaged, has left his family and connections, and, at his own expense, come over to offer his services to the United States, without pension or particular allowance, and is anxious to risk his life in our cause:
* Resolved, That his service he accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connections, he have the rank and commission of major general in the army of the United States.—Journals of Congress, iii., 247.
** Journals, iii., 429
*** See page 320.
La Fayette on Barren Hill.—Maneuvers of the two Armies.—The British deceived
detached La Fayette, with about twenty-one hundred troops and five pieces of cannon, across the Schuylkill on the 18th of May. He took post at Barren Hill (nearly twelve miles from Valley Forge), a little west of the church. It was a position skillfully chosen. On his right were rocky ledges of considerable extent, and the Schuylkill; on his left were thick woods, several strong stone houses, and the substantial stone church seen in the engraving. His cannon were placed in front; and at about three hundred yards in advance of the left wing were Captain M'Lane's company and fifty Indians. Picket-guards and videttes were stationed upon the woods leading to Philadelphia, and six hundred Pennsylvania militia were posted near Whitemarsh. The church was at the forks of the road, one branch of which led to Valley Forge, by the way of the Swedes' Ford, and the other to Matson's Ford. * *
La Fayette at first quartered at the house of a Tory Quaker, who sent a messenger with the information to Sir Henry Clinton, then in the chief command of the British army in Philadelphia, Howe having returned to England. Clinton immediately formed a plan for surprising La Fayette. On the night of the 19th, he sent out a detachment ofMay, 1778.five thousand of his choicest troops, under General Grant, assisted by Sir William Erskine. They marched toward Frankford, and at dawn the next morning turned toward the left, passed Whitemarsh, and proceeded on the road leading to Swedes' Ford, to a position in the rear of the Americans. Another strong force, under General Grey, crossed to the western bank of the Schuylkill, and took post about three miles below Barren Hill; while Sir Henry Clinton led, in person, a third division through Germantown, and before daylight halted on Chestnut Hill.
The situation of La Fayette was now critical. Owing to the disobedience of orders on the part of the militia, on leaving Whitemarsh, General Grant's approach was undiscovered, and the little band of Americans were nearly surrounded by a greatly superior force before they were aware of their danger. Early in the looming, scarlet coats were seen through the trees in the distant forest; and an officer, sent by La Fayette to reconnoiter, came back in haste with the information that a large British force was on the road leading from Whitemarsh to Swedes' Ford, a little more than a mile from his encampment. The marquis at once comprehended the full extent of the danger, and a skillful maneuver was instantly conceived. He changed his front without disorder, stationed a large party in the church-yard, around which was a strong wall, ** and drew up the remainder in such a manner as to be protected by the stone houses and thick woods. Ascertaining that the only road leading to Swedes' Ford was in possession of the enemy, he resolved to retreat to Matson's Ford, although the distance from his position was greater than from that of Grant. The road lay along the southern slope of hills, and was concealed by woods from the view of the enemy. The marquis dispatched several small parties through the woods, with orders to show themselves, at different points, as heads of columns, that the enemy might be deceived into the belief that he was marching to an attack. The maneuver was successful; and, while General Grant was halting, and preparing troops to meet these supposed attacks upon his flank, the Americans made a quick march to Matson's Ford—General Poor *** leading the advanced guard, and the marquis bringing up the rear. The heads of
* Matson's Ford was at the present village of Conshohocken, and Swedes' Ford was at or near Norristown, four miles above. They were about equally distant from Valley Forge.
** This wall yet surrounds the old church-yard, and is sufficiently perfect to form a strong breast-work. British writers, following the narrative of Stedman (ii., 337), assert that Washington, from his camp upon the high hills of Valley Forge, discovered the peril of La Fayette, and discharged heavy alarm-guns to apprise him of his danger. None of the earlier historians of the war, except Stedman, mention this circumstance; it must have been inferential on the part of that generally correct and fair writer. Barren Hill may be distinctly seen from the highest point of Washington's encampment at Valley Forge. Though twelve miles distant, I saw the church on Barren Hill from the observatory, hereafter to be noticed, which stands upon the site of Washington's marquee at Valley Forge.
*** Brigadier-general Enoch Poor was a native of New Hampshire. He was a colonel in the Continental army in the expedition against Canada in 1776, where he served with distinction. He was afterward at Crown Point, and was one of the twenty-one inferior officers who signed a remonstrance against the decision of a council of officers there, consisting of Generals Gates, Schuyler, Sullivan, Arnold, and Woedtke,* when it was resolved that, the post was untenable, and that the army should retire to Mount Independence. He was appointed brigadier in 1777, and served in that capacity in the battles in which Burgoyne was defeated and captured. He soon afterward joined the army under Washington in Pennsylvania. He was in the camp at Valley Forge, and with his brigade was among the first troops that commenced a pursuit of the British across New Jersey in the summer of 1778. He fought gallantly in the battle of Monmouth which succeeded. He commanded a brigade of light infantry in 1780, in which service he died, near Hackensack, in New Jersey. His funeral was attended by Washington and La Fayette, and a long line of subordinate officers and soldiers. On account of the vicinity of the enemy, the usual discharges of cannon were omitted. Reverend Israel Evans, chaplain to the New Hampshire brigade, delivered a funeral discourse. General Poor was buried in the church-yard at Hackensack, where an humble stone, with the following inscription, marks his grave: "In memory of the Hon. Brigadier-general Enoch Poor, of the State of New Hampshire, who departed this life on the 8th day of September, 1780, aged 44 years." General Poor was greatly esteemed by La Fayette, who, it is said, was much affected on visiting his grave when in this country in 1825.
Retreat of La Fayette across the Schuylkill to Valley Forge.—Generals Poor and Woedtke.
columns, who had deceived General Grant, gradually fell back and joined in the retreat, and the whole army arrived at the ford in safety.
They crossed the Schuylkill with their artillery, took possession of the high grounds on the west side of the river, and formed in the order of battle. General Grant had marched to the church on Barren Hill, where he joined the division under Clinton, and discovered, with mortified pride, that he had been outmaneuvered by the "stripling Frenchman." It was too late to overtake the retreating patriots; the British pursued them as far as the ford, but, finding it impossible to cross over, they wheeled, and returned, disappointed and chagrined, to Philadelphia. In a skirmish with the enemy's advanced parties at the ford, while the artillery was crossing, the Americans lost nine men killed and taken. The British lost two light horsemen killed, and several wounded. La Fayette and his troops marched back to the camp at Valley Forge, where they were greeted with the most enthusiastic congratulations.
It was almost sunset when we left the old church-yard on Barren Hill and departed for Conshohocken * (Matson's Ford), on the Schuylkill, where we intended to pass the night.