“Will you be so good as to present my respects to your lady? With the most tender affection and highest respect I have the honor to be, etc.”
Deeply sympathizing with the trying position of the high-spirited young marquis, Washington used his influence to have him recalled; but in such manner as should honor his fidelity and exonerate his name from any blame. His kind efforts in behalf of La Fayette were successful, and on the second of March the Board of War was directed “to instruct the Marquis de La Fayette to suspend for the present the intended invasion, and at the same time inform him that Congress entertained a high sense of his prudence, activity, and zeal; and that they were fully persuaded nothing has or would have been wanting on his part, or on the part of the officers who accompanied him, to give the expedition the utmost possible effect.”
La Fayette accordingly returned to Valley Forge, and rejoined Washington. How inexpressibly comforting to the harassed heart of Washington must have been the faithfulness of this young knight, who laid his sword and fortune at the feet of his adopted father, before whose character and virtue he bowed with devotion and stanch loyalty.
On the 19th of May, 1778, Sir William Howe, then commanding the British troops occupying Philadelphia, planned to give the fair Tory ladies a delightful surprise. Valley Forge was about twenty miles from Philadelphia, and already Washington had begun several manœuvres in the opening campaign. La Fayette had been detached with a picked company of two thousand men, and ordered to cross the Schuylkill, and take up his post as an advance guard of the army. In accordance with these instructions, the marquis had stationed himself at Barren Hill, about midway between Valley Forge and Philadelphia. This interesting piece of news soon reached Sir William Howe, and he thereupon determined to entrap the marquis, and exhibit him at a banquet which he had ordered to be prepared, and to which he had invited his lady friends, promising that they should upon that occasion behold the captured marquis, whose fame, fortune, youth, and chivalry had long engaged their attention and excited their deepest curiosity, and caused them eagerly to desire a sight of this young nobleman.
But Sir William Howe and his fair Tory friends reckoned without their host. Though the marquis was scarcely twenty-one, he was not so easily outwitted by even such a military tactician as the renowned British commander. He also heard of this fine plan to entrap him, and determined by a hazardous and brilliant manœuvre to elude his foe. There was but one method practicable, but it required great daring and cunning. La Fayette was convinced that he must recross the river. To attempt this seemed destruction; but his inventive wit and quick planning came to his rescue. He would feign an attack, himself lead a portion of his band boldly against the British general, who had been stationed by Howe to guard the ford. This he did, meanwhile ordering the remainder of his men to cross the river under cover of this stratagem. The plan was entirely successful. The British, imagining that La Fayette’s whole division was coming against them, halted and prepared for battle. This delay was La Fayette’s opportunity; perceiving that part of his troops had crossed the river, according to directions, he slowly withdrew his own forces, and ere his enemies were aware, his entire band had arrived on the other side of the river; and when the British reached Barren Hill, La Fayette’s late camp, their intended prey had escaped and were marching towards Valley Forge.
“Finding the bird flown, the English returned to Philadelphia, spent with fatigue and ashamed of having done nothing. The ladies did not see M. de La Fayette, and General Howe himself arrived too late for supper.”
General Washington had watched through a glass the imminent peril which threatened the marquis; and when he clasped him in his arms, his heart was stirred, and his eyes glistened with deep feeling. Loud acclamations saluted the gallant band of soldiers, and their young leader became only second in their hearts to Washington. From that moment the influence of La Fayette was unlimited. His youth made his exploit all the more remarkable, and his courage won their profoundest admiration.
M. Chastellux, in his work entitled “Journey from Newport to Philadelphia,” thus wrote of La Fayette’s influence in the army: “We availed ourselves of the cessation of the rain to accompany his Excellency [General Washington] to the camp of the marquis [General La Fayette]. We found all his troops ranged in line of battle on the heights to the left, and himself at their head, expressing both by his deportment and physiognomy that he preferred seeing me there to receiving me at his estate in Auvergne. The confidence and attachment of his troops are most precious in his eyes; for he looks upon that species of wealth as one of which he cannot be deprived. But what I find still more flattering to a young man of his age, is the influence which he has acquired in political as well as in military circles. I have no fear of being contradicted when I assert that mere letters from him have often had more influence in some of the states of the Union than the strongest invitations on the part of the Congress. On seeing him it is difficult to determine which is the more surprising circumstance, that a young man should have already given so many proofs of talent, or that a man so proved should still leave so much room for hope. Happy will his country be if she knows how to avail herself of his aid; and happier still, should that aid become superfluous to her!”
But just as the welcome words of commendation from his beloved chief fell upon the ear of La Fayette, sad tidings were wafted to him from over the sea. The darling little Henriette, who had not yet learned to lisp her father’s name when he parted with her, but since then had tried with baby prattle to tell her love for her cher papa, had been stricken down; the infant tongue had been silenced, the wondering eyes closed, and the devoted father must wait until he too passed beyond life’s river, to be recognized by his much-loved Henriette.
With sorrowful heart he pens these touching lines to his idolized wife:—