In a few hours we reached the Brandywine, which was anchored at the mouth of the Potomac, where she only awaited our arrival to set sail. The general was received on board with the greatest honours, the yards were manned, the gunners at their posts, and the marines drawn up on deck. Of the whole company that had attended us from Washington, the secretary of the navy, Mr. Southard, alone went on board the Brandywine with the general, to present and recommend him to the care of Commodore Morris in the name of the American nation and its government. We had experienced so many marks of kindness from Mr. Southard, that it was with real grief that we took leave of him. As soon as he had received our last farewells, he returned on board the Mount Vernon, and our commander gave orders to weigh anchor; but at this moment another steam-boat appeared in sight, which apparently wished to speak to us; we soon recognised her as the Constitution, which had arrived from Baltimore, carrying a great number of the inhabitants of that city, who desired once more to see General Lafayette, and to express to him the good wishes of their fellow-citizens, as well as their own. We experienced great pleasure in observing among them a majority of those with whom we were most intimate in our different visits to Baltimore. Their presence, at this time, in recalling to our minds the happy time we spent with them, made us forget, for a moment, that we had already left the American soil, perhaps for ever, and our illusion was prolonged until the evening gun announced that all communication between us must cease.
The night was now too far advanced to get under sail, and Commodore Morris waited till next day to weigh anchor. It was the 8th of December we entered the Chesapeake under full sail, traversing the centre of a brilliant rainbow, one of whose limbs appeared to rest on the Maryland shore, and the other on that of Virginia. Thus the same sign that appeared in the heavens on the day on which Lafayette landed on the American soil, also appeared when he left it, as if nature had reserved to herself the erection of the first and the last of the numerous triumphal arches dedicated to him during his extraordinary journey.[[22]]
The wind blowing brisk and favourable, we soon passed the capes of Virginia, and were in a short time out at sea. It was then only that our captain, disengaged from the care a difficult navigation, near the shore always induces, made us more particularly acquainted with his officers and our new abode. From the character of the former and commodious arrangement of the latter, it was readily perceived that the American government had neglected nothing that could contribute to the safety or comfort of Lafayette’s return to his own country. The captain announced to the general, that the last instructions he had received from the president, was to put himself entirely at the general’s disposal, and to conduct him to any part of Europe that he might designate, and to land him under the protection of the American flag; hence, that he must from that moment consider himself as absolute master, and to be assured that his orders would be executed with the greatest readiness. The general was deeply affected but not surprised at this fresh instance of kindness in the American government, and declared to the captain, that the only use he should make of these honourable prerogatives would be a passage to Havre. Two motives, added he, make me desirous of reentering France by that city; my family will be there to receive me, and my heart feels a strong desire to present myself, in the first instance, to those who received my farewell with such kindness, when I last year left my country.
The wind blew so violently, that in forty-eight hours from our leaving Chesapeake bay, we were in the Gulf stream, whose waves, opposed by the wind, made us experience all the agonies of rolling and pitching horribly combined. Added to the sea-sickness which attacked nearly all of us, another source of anxiety arose. The frigate leaked without it being discovered at what place; the pumps, in spite of their constant employment, could not keep the vessel clear, and some persons already regretted we were so far from the land, but our captain and his crew were not to be intimidated so easily. After a close examination of our situation, Captain Morris was of opinion that the vessel was too deep in the water, and should be lighted; he therefore had 32,000 weight of iron, part of his ballast, thrown overboard. This operation which was performed in a few hours, remedied every inconvenience. The frigate being lighter was in better trim, and in rising some inches more above the surface of the water, discovered the leak, which was just under the water-mark: from this moment the danger, which had never been serious, entirely disappeared, and our voyage was accomplished without the slightest anxiety.
As the president had told the general, in offering him the use of the Brandywine to carry him to France, we had for commander one of the most distinguished officers in the American navy. During his youth, Captain Morris had distinguished himself in several engagements before Algiers, under the command of Commodore Rogers. At a later period, during the last war with Great Britain, he had added to his reputation, from his skill in manœuvring his vessel, in the presence of an overwhelming force; and his comrades generally attributed to him a great part of the glory of the victory of the Constitution over the Guerriere, who, proud of her formidable artillery and the experience of her numerous crew, had sent a challenge to any American vessel, that had the courage to meet her, and seemed to wait with impatience for some one to accept her defiance, when the Constitution appeared and soon made her repent of her presumption.
The officers who served under the orders of Captain Morris, on board of the Brandywine, had also distinguished themselves in the last war, and each could boast of having added to the glory of the American navy, by his own gallant deeds. I regret that I cannot record all their names, and some of the actions by which they merited the gratitude of their country, and the esteem of their fellow-citizens; but such details would lead me far beyond all due bounds, and I hope that my silence will be taken rather as a proof of my incapacity to act as their historian, than as a proof of my indifference to men, whose society was so delightful to us, during a voyage which would have appeared very short, if we had not been returning to our own country.
The government of the United States has no theoretical school for her marine officers, but each national vessel, when going on service, receives on board a certain number of midshipmen, and thus forms a practical school at little expense as to money, and attended with the happiest results. When it was rumoured, that the Brandywine was destined to conduct Lafayette back to France, all those parents who intended their children for the navy, were ambitious to obtain them a birth on board of this frigate, and the president found himself beset with petitions from all parts of the Union. Not being able to satisfy all, but at the same time wishing to amalgamate, as much as possible, private interests with public good, he decided that each state should be represented by a midshipman, and hence the Brandywine had on board twenty-four, instead of eight or ten, as is usual in vessels of her size. It was gratifying to the general, thus to find himself surrounded by these young representatives of the republics he had visited with so much pleasure, not only as their presence recalled spots he loved, but also as some of them, being sons of old revolutionary soldiers, gave him an opportunity of speaking of his former companions in arms; and the young men, on their part, proud of the mission they were engaged in, endeavoured to render themselves worthy of it, by strict attention to study, and the performance of their duties. The paternal friendship testified towards them by the general, during the voyage, so completely gained their affection, that they could not separate from him without shedding tears. They begged that he would permit them, to offer him a durable mark of their filial attachment, that would also recall to his mind the days passed with them on board the Brandywine.[[23]]
The wind continued strong during the whole passage, but was very variable, thus rendering our voyage unpleasant. Nevertheless, in spite of their inconstancy, Captain Morris found means to make us advance rapidly; and on the 3d of October we arrived in sight of the coast of Havre, in twenty-four days after leaving the Chesapeake. This passage ought to be considered as very short, particularly when it is considered that it was our vessel’s first voyage, and consequently that she required to be studied with greater care by those who navigated her.
I will not speak of the feelings that agitated us at the sight of our country. There are few who have not experienced them on again seeing their native land, even after a short absence; and to those who have never known the torments of absence, or the sweet emotions of a return, I fear that my words would appear exaggerated or ridiculous.
As there was a great swell, and the wind variable, the captain would not hazard the frigate by approaching too near land in the night; he therefore sent one of his officers to Havre for a pilot, and stood off and on until his return. About midnight, a fishing boat boarded us, and brought letters, by which we learnt, that a great part of General Lafayette’s family, and numbers of his friends, among whom was my father, had waited for us at Havre for several days, and would join us in a few hours.