Harlow Giles Unger - Lafayette

Lafayette, in his uniform as a French brigadier general and marchal de camp, in 1782, from an engraving by Adle Ethiou of the painting at Versailles. (From the authors collection.)

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Copyright 2002 by Harlow Giles Unger. All rights reserved

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Unger, Harlow G., date.

Lafayette / Harlow Giles Unger.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-471-39432-7 (cloth : alk. paper)

1. Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 17571834. 2. GeneralsUnited StatesBiography. 3. United States. Army Biography. 4. GeneralsFranceBiography. 5. StatesmenFranceBiography. 6. United StatesHistoryRevolution, 17751783Participation, French. 7. United StatesHistoryRevolution, 17751783Biography. I. Title.

E207.L2 U45 2002

944.04092dc21

[B]

2002071327

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my dear friends
Andr and Eva Mandel

To my brother
Roger H. Unger, M.D.

and
To my son
Richard C. Unger

The happiness of America is intimately connected with the happiness of all mankind; She is destined to become the safe and venerable asylum of virtue, of honesty, of tolerance, and of peaceful liberty.

Lafayette, June 7, 1777

Maps

The Battle of Brandywine Creek

Lafayettes campaign, Virginia cape

The siege of Yorktown

Illustrations

Lafayette as a French brigadier general and marchal de camp, at twenty-five

The Chteau de Chavaniac

Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette, Lafayettes father

Julie de La Rivire de La Fayette, Lafayettes mother

The six-year-old Lafayette and his aunt Charlotte

Lafayette at eleven

The duc dAyen

The duchesse dAyen

Lafayette, the sixteen-year-old groom

Adrienne de Noailles, Lafayettes fourteen-year-old bride

Menu, Lafayette wedding dinner

Lafayette, captain of the Dragons de Noailles, at eighteen 16

The comte de Vergennes

The comte de Broglie

Baron Johann de Kalb

George Washington

Major General Nathanael Greene

The Peale portrait of Lafayette, in American major generals uniform

King Louis XVI

Cartoon of the comte dEstaing

The comte de Rochambeau

Benedict Arnold

Lord Cornwallis

Admiral de Grasse

The surrender at Yorktown

Lafayettes children

Lafayette and James the slave

Queen Marie-Antoinette and her children

The Assemble des Notables

Gouverneur Morris

Storming the Bastille

Bailly and Lafayette greet the king

Georges-Jacques Danton

Maximilien Robespierre

Jean-Paul Marat

The Fte de la Fdration

Mob presents severed head to National Assembly

The beheading of King Louis XVI

Lafayette in chains

Adrienne Lafayette after release from prison

Napolon I

The Chteau de La Grange

King Louis XVIII

American triumphal arch

Charles X

Lafayette enthrones the duc dOrlans in 1830

Lafayette in his garden, at seventy-five

Lafayettes grave in Picpus Cemetery, Paris

The Lafayette family, Michel and Genevive Aubert La Fayette, were exceptionally generous in welcoming me to their beautiful Chteau de Vollore* in the Auvergne, where they not only shared their collection of Lafayette memorabilia and documents but stood ready to serve as consultants at every stage in the development of this book. Also of great help were the curatorial staff at the Chteau de Chavaniac, Lafayettes birthplace and childhood home.

Of all those who helped me with this book, however, my deepest thanks must go to my dear friends of more than forty-five years, Andr and Eva Mandel, to whom I have dedicated this book. For two years, they willingly helped me in my research, translating archaic language, hunting for hard-to-find, out-of-print books, photographs, and documents, locating Lafayette descendants, and driving me over hundreds of miles of dusty roads in the Auvergne at times through driving rainon the trail of Lafayette and his family.

In the United States, my wonderful friend and literary agent, Edward Knappman, was, as always, kind and generous with his wise counsel and his help in locating a number of hard-to-find, out-of-print works that proved essential for this bookand in sharing his wisdom. The always gracious Louise Jones, the librarian at the Yale Club of New York City, was also helpful, as were Peter Jaffe, of the rare books department of Argosy Book Store in New York, my former editor, Randi Ladenheim Gil, and Sibylle Kazeroid, an excellent proofreader. Economist Jonathan Falk was also most generous in contributing his time and extensive knowledge. Finally, my deepest thanks, as always, to my editor and friend, Hana Lane, for her constant guidance and wise counsel in every phase of this book.