Lafayette knew well that matters looked dark then for the American republic. In another letter to Adrienne he said, “Now that you are the wife of an American general officer, I must give you a lesson. People will say, ‘They have been beaten.’ You must answer, ‘It is true, but with two armies equal in number, and on level ground, old soldiers always have an advantage over new ones; besides, the Americans inflicted a greater loss than they sustained.’ Then, people will add, ‘That’s all very well; but Philadelphia, the capital of America, the highroad of liberty, is taken.’ You will reply politely, ‘You are fools! Philadelphia is a poor city, open on every side, of which the port was already closed. The presence of Congress made it famous, I know not why; that’s what this famous city amounts to, which, by the way, we shall retake sooner or later.’ If they continue to ply you with questions, send them about their business in terms that the Vicomte de Noailles will supply you with.”
It was true that General Howe had taken Philadelphia while Lafayette had to nurse his wounded leg at Bethlehem. It was not until the latter part of October that the Marquis was able to rejoin the army, and then his wound had not sufficiently healed to allow him to wear a boot. The battle of Germantown, by which Washington hoped to dislodge the British from Philadelphia, had been fought, and the year’s campaign was about to close. Two battles had been lost by the Americans in the south, but in the north the British general Burgoyne had been obliged to surrender. Washington’s headquarters were now at Methacton Hill, near the Schuylkill River, and there Lafayette went, hoping for active service.
His chance for service came soon. Cornwallis had entered New Jersey with five thousand men, and General Greene was sent to oppose him with an equal number. Lafayette joined Greene as a volunteer, and at Mount Holly he was ordered to reconnoitre. On November twenty-fifth he found the enemy at Gloucester. Their forage wagons were crossing the river to Philadelphia, and Lafayette, in order to make a more thorough examination of their position, went dangerously far out on a tongue of land. Here he might easily have been captured, but he was quick enough to escape without injury. Later, at four o’clock in the afternoon, he found himself before a post of Hessians, four hundred men with cannon. Lafayette had one hundred and fifty sharpshooters under Colonel Butler, and about two hundred militiamen and light-horse. He did not know the strength of the enemy, but he attacked, and drove them back so boldly that Cornwallis, thinking he must be dealing with all of Greene’s forces, allowed his troops to retreat to Gloucester with a loss of sixty men.
This was the first real opportunity Lafayette had had to show his skill in leading men, and he had done so well that General Greene was delighted. In the report he sent to Washington he said, “The Marquis is charmed with the spirited behavior of the militia and rifle corps. They drove the enemy about a mile and kept the ground until dark.... The Marquis is determined to be in the way of danger.”
Lafayette had shown himself to be a daring and skilful officer; more than that, he had endeared himself to the men under his command. And this was more than could be said for most of the foreign officers in the American army; many of them devoted the larger part of their time to criticizing everything about them. Baron de Kalb expressed his opinion of these adventurers from across the Atlantic in forceful terms. “These people,” said he, “think of nothing but their incessant intrigues and backbitings. They hate each other like the bitterest enemies, and endeavor to injure each other whenever an opportunity offers. Lafayette is the sole exception.... Lafayette is much liked and is on the best of terms with Washington.”
It was natural, therefore, that Washington, having had such a good account of the young Frenchman at the skirmish at Gloucester, should be willing to gratify his desire for a regular command in the army. So the commander-in-chief wrote to Congress concerning the Marquis. “There are now some vacant positions in the army,” said Washington, “to one of which he may be appointed, if it should be the pleasure of Congress. I am convinced he possesses a large share of that military ardor that characterizes the nobility of his country.”
And Congress agreed with Washington, and voted that “the Marquis de Lafayette be appointed to the command of a division in the Continental Army.” On December 4, 1777, the Frenchman was given the command of the Virginia division. He was twenty years old, and it was only a little more than a year since he had first heard from the Duke of Gloucester about the fight of the American farmers for liberty. He had accomplished a great deal in that year, and had won his spurs by pluck, by perseverance, and by ability.
Naturally he was delighted at this evidence of the confidence that Washington and the American Congress placed in him. He wrote to his father-in-law, the Duke d’Ayen, the man who had tried his best to keep him from coming to America, “At last I have what I have always wished for,—the command of a division. It is weak in point of numbers; it is almost naked, and I must make both clothes and recruits; but I read, I study, I examine, I listen, I reflect, and upon the result of all this I make an effort to form my opinion and to put into it as much common sense as I can ... for I do not want to disappoint the confidence that the Americans have so kindly placed in me.”
Events were soon to test both his ability and his mettle.