Memoirs, Correspondence and Manuscripts of General Lafayette Part 35

Holt's Forge, 1st Sept., 1781.

My dear General,--From the bottom of my heart I congratulate you upon the arrival of the French fleet. Some rumours had been spread, and spy accounts sent out, but no certainty until the admiral's despatches came to hand. Inclosed I send you his letter, and that of M. de St. Simon, both of whom I request you will have translated by Tilghman or Gouvion alone, as there are parts of them personal, which I do not choose to shew to others. Thanks to you, my dear general, I am in a very charming situation, and find myself at the head of a beautiful body of troops; but am not so hasty as the Count de Gra.s.se, and think that, having so sure a game to play, it would be madness, by the risk of an attack, to give anything to chance.

It appears Count de Gra.s.se is in a great hurry to return; he makes it a point to put upon my expressions such constructions as may favour his plan. They have been pleased to adopt my ideas, as to the sending of vessels into James River, and forming a junction at Jamestown. I wish they may also force the pa.s.sage at York, because then his lords.h.i.+p has no possibility of escape.

The delay of Count de Gra.s.se's arrival, the movement of the grand army, and the alarm there was at York, have forced me, for greater security, to send a part of the troops to the south side, of James River.

To-morrow and the day after will be employed in making dispositions for covering a landing, which will be done with continentals disc.u.mbered of baggage; and on the 5th, agreeable to the count's desire, a junction will be made of our troops. I shall then propose to the French general the taking of a safe position, within ten or twelve miles of York; such a one as cannot be forced without a much greater loss than we could suffer.

And, unless matters are very different from what I think they are, my opinion is, that we ought to be contented with preventing the enemy's forages, and fatiguing them by alarming their picquets with militia, without committing our regulars. Whatever readiness the Marquis de St.

Simon has been pleased to express to Colonel Gimat, respecting his being under me, I shall do nothing without paying that deference which is due to age, talents, and experience; but would rather incline to the cautious line of conduct I have of late adopted. General Portail must be now with Count de Gra.s.se. He knows your intentions, and our course will be consulted in our movements.

Lord Cornwallis has still one way to escape; he may land at West Point, and cross James River, some miles below Point of Fork; but I thought this part was the most important, as the other route is big with obstacles. However, to prevent even a _possibility_, I would wish some s.h.i.+ps were above York.

The governor~[2] was with me when the letters came; he jumped upon a horse, and posted off to his council. I gave him a memorandum, demanding provisions of every kind for the fleet and the combined army. We may depend upon a quant.i.ty of cattle, but flour ought to be sent from Maryland and Pennsylvania. Chevalier d'Annemours, the French consul, is here, and will take a method to have his countrymen supplied without starving us.

Upon a particular inquiry of the country, and our circ.u.mstances, I hope you will find we have taken the best precautions to lessen his lords.h.i.+p's chances to escape; he has a few left, but so very precarious, that I hardly believe he will make the attempt; if he does, he must give up s.h.i.+ps, artillery, baggage, part of the horses, all the negroes; he must be certain to lose the third of his army, and run the greatest risk to lose the whole, without gaining that glory which he may derive from a brilliant defence.

Adieu, my dear general, the agreeable situation I am in is owing to your friends.h.i.+p, and is, for that reason, the dearer to your respectful servant and friend.

Footnotes:

1. Was.h.i.+ngton having finally adopted the project of uniting the land and sea forces against the army of Cornwallis, which had so fortunately stationed itself in the position most favourable to a naval attack, it was still important and difficult to prevent him from reaching Carolina, and thus ruining the campaign of the allied powers. It was to attain this end, that Lafayette had despatched troops to the south of James River, under pretence of dislodging the English from Portsmouth; this movement had also the good effect of uniting to the corps of the army the troops and artillery who could escape by Albemarle Sound on the arrival of the Count de Gra.s.se. With the same view, he detained troops on the south of James River, on pretence of sending General Wayne and his Pennsylvanians to the southern army to reinforce General Greene.

No person was in the secret, and the enemy could not, therefore, be undeceived. It was at that period that he sent them the pretended deserter, Morgan. In short, after having manoeuvred for several months to lead his opponent into the spot that would best allow him to take advantage of a naval co-operation, he manoeuvred at last so as to prevent his enemy from withdrawing when he became conscious of his danger. His precautions in this respect were more necessary from Lord Cornwallis knowing that a large French fleet was expected in North America. The moment the Count de Gra.s.se arrived, Lafayette marched on rapidly to Williamsburg, and effected a junction with a corps of three thousand men belonging to the Marquis de St. Simon. As soon as he landed at Jamestown, he crossed the river, united Wayne's corps to his own, and a.s.sembled, on the other side of York River, opposite to Gloucester, a corps of militia. The English army thus found itself enclosed on every side, and no possible means of safety were left to Lord Cornwallis but by his undertaking a very perilous enterprise. He reconnoitred, however, the position of Williamsburg, with the intention of attacking it. It was a well chosen station: two creeks; or small rivers, throwing themselves, one into James, the other into York River, almost enclosed the peninsula on that point; it was necessary to force two well defended pa.s.sages; two houses and two public buildings of Williamsburg, both of stone, were well placed to defend the front. There were five thousand French and American troops, a large corps of militia, and a well served campaign artillery. Lord Cornwallis thought he ought not to hazard an attack. He might have crossed over to Gloucester, or have ascended York River, the Count de Gra.s.se having neglected to place vessels above that point, but he must have abandoned, in that case, his artillery, magazines, and invalids, and measures had been taken to cut off his road in several places; he determined, therefore, to await the attack. He might have had, in truth, the chance of a combat, if Lafayette had yielded to some tempting solicitations. The Count de Gra.s.se was in a hurry to return; the idea of waiting for the northern troops and generals was intolerable to him; he entreated Lafayette to attack the English army; with the American and French troops that were under his command, offering, for that purpose, not only the detachments which formed the garrisons of the s.h.i.+ps, but also as many sailors as he should demand. The Marquis de St. Simon, who although subordinate to Lafayette from the date of his commission, was much his senior in point of age and service, joined earnestly in the admiral's request. He represented that Lord Cornwallis's works were not yet completed, and that an attack of superior forces would soon, in all probability, take Yorktown, and afterwards Gloucester. The temptation was great for the young general of the combined army, who was scarcely four-and-twenty years of age; he had an unanswerable pretence for taking such a step in the declaration made by M. de Gra.s.se, that he could not wait for the northern generals and forces; but this attack, which, if successful, would have been so brilliant, must necessarily have cost a great deal of blood. Lafayette would not sacrifice to his personal ambition the soldiers who had been confided to him; and, refusing the request of the Count de Gra.s.se, he only endeavoured to persuade him to await the arrival of General Was.h.i.+ngton, accompanied by the Generals Rochambeau and Lincoln, seniors of Lafayette; by this means the reduction of the army of Cornwallis became a secure and by no means costly operation. (Note extracted from Ma.n.u.script, No. 2.)

2. The governor of Virginia, Nelson.

TO GENERAL WAs.h.i.+NGTON.

(ORIGINAL.)

Williamsburg, September 8, 1781.

My dear General,--I had the honour to write you lately, giving an account of everything that came within my knowledge. I was every hour expecting I might be more particular; but if you knew how slowly things go on in this country; still I have done the best in my power; I have written and received twenty letters a day from government and from every department. The governor does what he can: the wheels of his government are so very rusty that no governor whatever will be able to set them free again. Time will prove that Jefferson has been too severely charged. The French troops, my dear general, have landed with amazing celerity; they have already been wanting flour, meat and salt, not so much, however, as to be one day without. I have been night and day the quarter-master collector, and have drawn myself into a violent head-ache and fever, which will go off with three hours' sleep, the want of which has occasioned it. This, my dear general, will apologize to you for not writing with my own hand. The French army is composed of the most excellent regiments: they have with them a corps of hussars, which may be of immediate use. The general and all the officers have cheerfully lived in the same way as our poorly provided American detachment. I think a letter from you on the subject will have a very good effect.

Last night by leaving our own baggage, and accepting of our officers'

horses, we have been able to move to a position near Williamsburg: it is covered along the front with ravines; the right flank is covered by a mill-pond, on the road to Jamestown; the left by Queen's Creek, small rivulets, and marshes. We have militia still in front of our right and left, and a good look out on the river. Our provisions may come to the capital landing. Williamsburg and its strong buildings are in our front.

I have upon the lines General Muhlenberg with one thousand men, four hundred of whom are Virginian regulars, and one hundred dragoons. In borrowing White's unequipped horses we may add one hundred hussars.

There is a line of armed s.h.i.+ps along James River, and a small reserve of militia, which may increase every day: there are in Gloucester county eight hundred militia driving off stock. I had recommended, with proper delicacy, to Count de Gra.s.se to send some naval forces up York River; the French armed vessels in Pamunkey are come down to West Point. No movement of Count de Gra.s.se has as yet taken place, except some s.h.i.+ps below York. Your excellency's letter to him has been duly forwarded; we are under infinite obligations to the officers and the men for their zeal.

I entered into these particular accounts, my dear general, in order to show you that propriety, and not the desire to advance, has dictated our measures. We will try, if not dangerous, upon a large scale, to form a good idea of the works; but, unless I am greatly deceived, there will be madness in attacking them now with our force. Marquis de St. Simon, Count de Gra.s.se, and General du Portail, agree with me in opinion; but, should Lord Cornwallis come out against, such a position, as we have, everybody thinks that he cannot but repent of it; and should he beat us, he must soon prepare for another battle.

Now, my dear general, I am going to speak to you of the fortifications at York. Lord Cornwallis is working day and night, and will soon work himself into a respectable situation: he has taken ash.o.r.e the greater part of his sailors; he is picking up whatever provisions he can get.

I am told he has ordered the inhabitants in the vicinity of the town to come in, and should think they may do him much good. Our present position will render him cautious, and I think it a great point. No news as yet in this camp of the fleet of M. le Comte de Barras.~[1]

I will now answer you that part of your letter respecting provisions for the troops under your immediate command.

With respect to a proper place for the debarkation of your troops, it is the opinion of the Marquis de St. Simon, and mine, that it must be in James River, but we have not had an opportunity yet of fixing on the best spot: it appears, however, that it must be at or near Williamsburg or Jamestown.

With the most affectionate regard and esteem, I am; dear general, &c.

Footnote:

1. Marshall speaks of the departure of the Count de Barras for the Chesapeak, and of his arrival with the artillery of the siege; that the admiral had received a letter from the minister of the marine, the Marshal de Castries, who, informing him of the orders given to M. de Gra.s.se to proceed to the coasts of the United States, left him free to make a cruise on the banks of Newfoundland, not wis.h.i.+ng to oblige him to serve under his junior, to whom the minister had entrusted the command.

But M. de Barras n.o.bly determined to convey himself and the artillery to Rhode Island, and to range himself, with all his vessels, under the command of an admiral less ancient than himself.--Ma.n.u.script, No. 2.

TO GENERAL WAs.h.i.+NGTON.~[1]

(ORIGINAL.)

Camp before York, October 16, 1781.

My dear General,--Your excellency having personally seen our dispositions, I shall only give an account of what pa.s.sed in the execution.

Colonel Gimat's battalion led the van, and was followed by that of Colonel Hamilton's, who commanded the whole advanced corps; at the same time, a party of eighty men, under Colonel Laurens, turned the redoubt.

I beg leave to refer your excellency to the report I have received from Colonel Hamilton, whose well known talents and gallantry were on this occasion most conspicuous and serviceable. Our obligations to him, to Colonel Gimat, to Colonel Laurens, and to each and all the officers and men, are above expression. Not one gun was fired, and the ardour of the troops did not give time for the sappers to derange them, and, owing to the conduct of the commanders and the bravery of the men, the redoubt was stormed with uncommon rapidity.

Colonel Barber's battalion, which was the first in the supporting column, being detached to the aid of the advance, arrived at the moment they were getting over the works, and executed their orders with the utmost alacrity. The colonel was slightly wounded: the rest of the column under General Muhlenberg and Hazen advanced with admirable firmness and discipline. Colonel Vose's battalion displayed to the left, a part of the division successively dressing by him, whilst a second line was forming columns in the rear. It adds greatly to the character of the troops that, under the fire of the enemy, they displayed and took their rank with perfect silence and order. Give me leave particularly to mention Major Barber, division inspector, who distinguished himself, and received a wound by a cannon ball.

In making arrangements for the support of the works we had reduced, I was happy to find General Wayne and the Pennsylvanians so situated as to have given us, in case of need, the most effectual support.

I have the honour to be, with the most perfect respect, &c.

Footnote:

1. It was the 13th of September that General Was.h.i.+ngton had operated his junction with General Lafayette, and the 28th the place of York was invaded. The a.s.sault was given on the 15th of October.

TO M. DE MAUREPAS.

Camp, near York, October 20th, 1781.

The play, sir, is over--and the fifth act has just been closed; I was in a somewhat awkward situation during the first acts; my heart experienced great delight at the final one--and I do not feel less pleasure in congratulating you, at this moment, upon the fortunate issue of our campaign. I need not describe the particulars of it, sir, because Lauzun will give them to you in person; and I only wish him the same degree of good luck in crossing the ocean that he had in pa.s.sing through a corps of Tarleton's legion.

M. de Rochambeau will give you a full account of the army he commands; but if the honour of having commanded for some time the division of M. de St. Simon gives me any right to speak of my obligations to that general and his troops, that right would be much valued by me.

Will you have the kindness, sir, to present my respectful compliments to the Countess de Maurepas, and Madame de Flamarens, and to accept, yourself, the sincere a.s.surance of my affection, grat.i.tude, and respect.

TO M. DE VERGENNES.