[Begun in Harper's Young People No. 53, November 2.]
THE BOY-GENERAL.
BY EDWARD CARY.
Chapter IV.
When the courier who brought the news that Lafayette had landed again in Boston was introduced to the presence of General Washington, those who were standing by saw tears of joy run down the cheeks of the veteran soldier; and when Lafayette came to him, bearing the glad tidings that ships and men and money were on their way from France to aid in the common cause, the happiness of Washington was beyond words. And well it might be. The help the French had sent the year before was of little use. The country had again fallen into a weary and grumbling mood. The army had shrunken until it was the mere ghost of an army. There was no money in the Treasury. Washington wrote to Lafayette that he had not enough cash at his disposal, or in the whole army, to pay one messenger to ride fifty miles. And here came back the dearly loved friend from France, whose zeal and talent had won from the French government promises of the most generous help. No wonder that the brave American commander welcomed Lafayette with a heart filled with gratitude and love.
The young Marquis resumed his old place at the head of the advance guard of chosen troops. He had brought back from France a thousand little gifts for his old corps—badges for the soldiers, swords for the officers, a bright new silken flag for each battalion—kindly proofs of the affection with which he had constantly remembered them.
The French fleet, and an army under the Count de Rochambeau, followed quickly after Lafayette, and great efforts were made to agree upon a common plan for the campaign. Unluckily only a part of the fleet came at first, and this part got shut up by a larger English fleet at Newport, and was of little value, except that the English ships which were watching it could not ravage the American coasts.
Just at this moment happened one of those little incidents which sometimes have great effect. Washington had gone from near New York over to Connecticut to hold a meeting with the French commanders. On his way back he turned off his road to show to Lafayette the forts at West Point on the Hudson River, of which he was quite proud, and which had been laid out by an intimate friend of Lafayette's. Benedict Arnold, who was in command at West Point, had just arranged to betray the post to the English. Major André, an English officer, had been sent up to close the bargain. On his way back to New York he was captured as a spy, and all the papers on his person were sent to General Arnold, whose treason no one suspected. Arnold received them a half-hour before he expected General Washington. Had he not looked for Washington's arrival he could have released André, and carried out his wicked plan. Instead, he fled straightway to the British camp; so that Washington's love for Lafayette, which made him wish to show him the forts at West Point, was, in this curious fashion, a means of saving the American cause. Had the British captured West Point, and cut off the Eastern from the Central and Southern States, the Americans might easily have been subdued.
The year 1780 passed without any events of importance. But early in 1781 Washington sent Lafayette south into Virginia with a couple of thousand men to capture an English garrison at Portsmouth, near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. This he was to do with the help of a French fleet, which was to arrive there at the same time. But an English fleet got ahead of the French fleet, and beat it in a sea-battle off Cape Henry. Lafayette was about to return, when Washington wrote him to stay and try to protect the State of Virginia, which the British were about to overrun. Lafayette staid, of course, but he had a hard time of it. His troops had not expected to remain, and were inclined to desert and go home, the more because they were very badly clothed. Lafayette borrowed $10,000 in his own name, and got them new clothing and shoes. Then he issued an order telling them that he was about to start on a dangerous business, and any man who was afraid to go with him would be sent back. That put a stop to desertion.
Meanwhile, Lord Cornwallis, the ablest General the British had in America, made his appearance with an army much stronger than Lafayette's. He was "a cool, active" man, and was bent on capturing the young Frenchman. Lafayette drew back slowly before him, trying to deceive him as to his real strength.