LOYAL TO THE CHIEF
It was during that terrible Winter at Valley Forge, that Generals Gates and Conway “with malice and duplicity,” were plotting against Washington.
They wanted to win the young and influential Marquis de Lafayette to their conspiracy. They planned to do so by separating him from Washington. So they used their influence to have him appointed to an independent command, with Conway as his chief lieutenant. And this they did without consulting Washington.
But they reckoned without their host. The gallant young Frenchman was loyal. He was incapable of a dastardly act. Though scarcely twenty years old, he had a mind of his own. He refused to take command without Washington’s consent; and insisted on having Baron de Kalb, not Conway, for his lieutenant.
Then he set out for York, to get his papers.
He had left Washington with the soldiers, starving and shivering at Valley Forge; he found General Gates and his officers in York, comfortably seated at dinner, the table laden with food and drink. They were flushed and noisy with wine, and greeted Lafayette with shouts of welcome.
They fawned upon him; they complimented and toasted him. He listened to them quietly; and, as soon as he received his papers, rose as if to make a speech.
There was a breathless silence. All eyes were fixed upon him.
In politest tones, he reminded them there was one toast that they had forgotten, and which he now proposed:—
The health of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States.