“The following winter was very gay. My mother as well as her sister frequently went both to the play and to balls. She enjoyed all these pleasures with the liveliness of her age and disposition. Nevertheless, I do not think she ever allowed herself to join in any before it had been proved to her that she was conscientiously obliged to partake in them. Never, even in her earliest youth, did she allow herself to taste a single worldly amusement without being actuated by motives of duty superior to those which forbade them. She did not join in them without reflection, but, once decided, she would enjoy herself thoroughly and without scruple. It is worthy of remark that the religious doubts which tortured her should not have made her less timorous on this point. On the contrary, she was incessantly applying for the grace of God in order to learn the fulness of truth. He granted her prayers; her mind ceased to be troubled. She made her first communion that same year, on the first Sunday after Easter, and gave herself up to God, in whom she continued to trust so faithfully amidst all the vicissitudes of life. Shortly afterwards, her first child, little Henriette, was born.”
Before La Fayette’s wound, received at Brandywine, was sufficiently healed to permit him to wear a boot, he was so impatient to enter into active service, that he offered himself again as a volunteer, and joined an expedition which was then fitting out under General Greene, to operate in New Jersey. Preparations were made to give battle to Lord Cornwallis; but that officer having received large re-enforcements, General Greene, though greatly disappointed, deemed it inexpedient to dare an attack. But young La Fayette could not consent to retire without attempting to strike a blow. He was accordingly placed at the head of a small company, for reconnoitring, and authorized to make an attack if he thought it advisable. While he was examining the enemy’s position, his little band came suddenly upon a picket of four hundred Hessians. La Fayette’s company numbered only three hundred men; but he led them gallantly to the attack, and the Hessians were soon flying before them. La Fayette followed, and the Hessians meeting re-enforcements, turned to meet their brave pursuers. Great as the odds were against him, La Fayette and his valiant band boldly met the enemy, and again put them to flight, pursuing them until dark; they returned to camp with only five men wounded and one dead. Such was the battle of Gloucester.
This heroic action so impressed Congress with the bravery of La Fayette, that they promptly responded to Washington’s renewed request in behalf of the young marquis; and on the 1st of December, 1777, the following resolution was passed:—
“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 after, La Fayette was publicly invested with his rank, and placed over the division of Virginia troops, lately lead by General Stephens.
The campaign of 1777 was now drawing to its close. Sir William Howe, having recalled Lord Cornwallis, endeavored to force Washington from his position; but though there were several skirmishes, in which La Fayette distinguished himself, Washington would not be decoyed by his crafty foe, and Howe marched back to Philadelphia without having effected a battle.
The Revolutionary army now went into winter quarters at Valley Forge. La Fayette thus describes the condition of their troops at this time:—
“The unfortunate soldiers were in want of everything; they had neither coats, hats, shirts, nor shoes; their feet and legs froze until they became black, and it was often necessary to amputate them. From want of money they could not obtain either provisions or any means of transport. The colonels were often reduced to two rations, and sometimes to one. The army frequently remained whole days without provisions, and the patient endurance of both soldiers and officers was a miracle, which each moment served to renew. But the sight of their misery prevented new engagements; it was almost impossible to levy recruits; it was easy to desert into the interior of the country. The sacred fires of liberty were not extinguished, it is true, and the majority of the citizens detested British tyranny, but the triumph of the North (Gates’ defeat of Burgoyne) and the tranquillity of the South had lulled to sleep two-thirds of the continent.”
La Fayette endured with uncomplaining patience the greatest privations. He adopted the American dress, habits, and food. He allowed himself to fare no better than his comrades in war; and though his entire life heretofore had been spent in ease and luxury, he repined not at cold and scanty provisions, but rather gloried in his personal sacrifices. He thus writes from Valley Forge to his father-in-law, the Duke d’Ayen, in France:—
“The loss of Philadelphia is far from being so important as it is conceived to be in Europe. If the difference of circumstances, of countries, and of proportions between the two armies were not duly considered, the success of General Gates would appear surprising when compared with the events which have occurred with us, taking into account the superiority of General Washington over General Gates. Our general is a man formed, in truth, for this revolution, which could not have been accomplished without him. I see him more intimately than any other man, and I see that he is worthy of the adoration of his country. His tender friendship for me and his complete confidence in me relating to all political and military subjects, great as well as small, enable me to judge of all the interests he has to conciliate, and all the difficulties he has to conquer.