The Prodigy

 

This final post of 2023 will profile another of the historical characters in my novel, The Lafayette Circle. Although John Quincy Adams plays a relatively minor role in this tale of intrigue and mayhem in early 19th century America, he does provide the seed of the ideas that made the Marquis de Lafayette's 1824-1825 visit more than just a celebration of bonhomie between two nations.

John Quincy Adams - the youthful diplomat

Apprentice Diplomat

John Quincy Adams was fated to grow up and live in the shadow of his father, John, the accomplished lawyer, statesman, and politician who helped engineer the American Revolution and the foundation of America, becoming its second chief executive. Young John Quincy was born on 11 July 1767 at the family home in Braintree, Massachusetts, which is today's Quincy. His intensely patriotic and accomplished parents formed his early upbringing and schooled him in a classical education. The American Revolution seemingly unfolded before his eyes as he was among the many in and around Boston who watched nervously as the patriots battled lines of redcoats at Bunker Hill in  1775. 

Watching Bunker Hill

Exchange Student

Three years later, he left his mother to accompany his father on a diplomatic mission to Europe, which was the beginning of his real education. From 1778 to 1779, he studied at a private school in Paris, where he developed his fluency in French, the language of diplomats. Following this, he attended the University of Leiden in the  Netherlands, learning some Dutch.

The Boy Prodigy

By 1781, he was accomplished enough in French for his father to arrange John Quincy a post as private secretary to one of America's foremost diplomats, Francis Dana, who had been named US Envoy to Russia's court at St. Petersburg. When Dana's mission proved unfruitful, he returned to Paris, where he served as a secretary to the American Commissioners during their negotiations with the British. 

The Law and the Hague

When the Treaty of Paris was signed, he returned to the US to study at Harvard College and then Newburyport under the tutelage of Theophilus Parsons, where he read the law. By 1790, he was a member of the Bar in Boston. Adams went into private practice but also began penning pamphlets on political doctrine and foreign policy, in the latter case supporting President George Washington's firm stance on neutrality. This gained him an appointment as US minister to the Netherlands in 1794.

President George Washington

The wars of the French Revolution were raging, and the Hague was a capital full of diplomatic intrigue. Adams's dispatches and letters provided the Washington administration (which included his dad as Vice President)  valuable information. He served a temporary post in London to help bring about the 1794 Jay Treaty—a pivotal and controversial foreign policy initiative.

The Diplomat

For his able service, in 1796, President Washington appointed him US Envoy to Portugal, but when Dad became the nation's second president, he switched his son's assignment to Prussia. But pleasure before business—Adams married Louisa Catherine Johnson, a diplomat's daughter whom he met in Paris when he was just twelve. She proved a charming and able partner to the rising young diplomat. They married in London before heading to Berlin, where he negotiated a treaty of amity and commerce with the Prussians. But in 1800, politics flipped on him with the election of Thomas Jefferson, who recalled Adams from his post.

Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams

Political Life

Adams returned to Boston, where state and federal politics became his new playground. By 1802, he was a member of the Massachusetts State Senate, which elected him a US Senator from Massachusetts in 1803. Battleground is actually a more accurate description. Adams was as acerbic as his father and did not favor "factions." He voted his conscience, and that often put him at odds with one party or the other. He grew estranged from his dad's Federalist Party, which by now had turned on him. 

Support for the Embargo Act Cost Adams His Job

This all came to a head when he voted in support of Thomas Jefferson's Embargo Act, a measure opposed by the New Englanders who valued Brtain as a trading partner. In 1808, the Massachusetts Senate voted him out of office, and he resigned. Adams aligned with the Republicans and took a position as professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard College.

Envoy to Russia

The world was at war with Napoleonic France, and President Madison needed an A player to sort things out. The highly experienced Adams was the right man, especially as he had broken with the Federalists. From that perch, the astute Adams watched the dissolution of Emporer Napoleon Bonaparte's Army in 1812 and the destruction of his empire over the following two years. Adams was at the Court of St. Petersburg just when Czar Alexander rose in stature as a leader in the coalition against Napoleon.

Czar Alexander I - Power Broker

Treaty of Ghent

Meanwhile, war had broken out between the US and Great Britain, Russia's ally. Adams jumped onCzar Alexander's offer to mediate in the fall of 1812. The initiative, with Adams as one of the lead commissioners, fell through. However, a follow-up attempt in 1814 under Adams's leadership resulted in the Treaty of Ghent. This face-saving status quo ante arrangement changed little diplomatically or politically. Still, it gave the small US the morale-building confidence of having gone toe-to-toe with what was now the world hegemon.

Signing Treaty of Ghent

Like Father, Like Son

After a short stint in Paris, which occurred during Napoleon's short return to power in 1815, he followed in Dad's footsteps. He went to London, where he and Henry Clay negotiated a "Convention to Regulate Commerce and Navigation." Soon afterward, he became US minister to Great Britain, as his father had been before him and as his son Charles was to be after him. His stay at the Court of St.James was short, as Adams returned to the United States in the summer of 1817 to become secretary of state in the cabinet of President James Monroe. This appointment was primarily due to his diplomatic experience but also due to the president's desire to have a sectionally well-balanced cabinet in what came to be known as the Era of Good Feelings.

St. James Palace

Manifest Destiny

Adams's tenure as Secretary of State was, as one would expect, with someone groomed for the job since the age of fourteen—outstanding. He worked diligently with Spain to resolve the long-term dispute over America's western and southwestern borders. The Spanish Minister Onis agreed Spain would give up its claims to lands east of the Mississippi River. For his part, Adams decided the United States would forgo claims to Texas. The two settled on a boundary drawn from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Years of dispute were settled by the signing of what was called the Adams-Onis Transcontinental Treaty.

In 1818, he also settled the northern frontier dispute with Great Britain, establishing the 49th parallel all the way to the Rocky Mountains.

The Monroe Doctrine

Adams was a principal driver of the US policy on foreign interference in the Western Hemisphere. This is his key role in my novel, The Lafayette Circle. Instead of a joint US-British proclamation regarding European powers and the Spanish territories in America, he convinced President James Monroe to go it alone. The letter he helped craft to Congress in late 1823 and promulgated in 1824 was a stern warning to those hoping to pick up some loose change as the former colonies seemed ripe for the picking to certain powers. What later became known as The Monroe Doctrine was intended to protect the newly independent lands from recolonization and became the cornerstone of US foreign policy for more than one hundred years.

James Monroe

The Second President Adams

The 1824 election was a scene of chaos and political maneuvering, all within the parameters set forth by the US Constitution. With none of the four candidates (Adams, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and William Crawford) receiving the requisite number of electoral votes, the election was thrown to the House of Representatives to select from the top three (Jackson, Adams, Clay) in a one-vote-per-state "play-off." Henry Clay viewed Jackson as a dangerous demagogue and threw his support to Adams, putting him in the Oval Office. The Jacksonians cried foul when Adams later appointed Clay as Secretary of State.

Henry Clay

Adams worked long and hard as president, but the anger of the Jacksonians (who suspected a corrupt bargain) hung like a cloud over his term as they opposed him in everything. Adams's hopes of creating a national university and a national astronomical observatory were dashed. His idea that the western territories undergo only gradual development became dead on arrival. Even his infrastructure initiatives—building bridges, ports, and roads with financial aid from the Federal government were stymied. Jackson came back to crush Adams in the 1828 election.

Andrew Jackson

In an interesting connection to my novel, The Lafayette Circle, one of Adams's first acts as president was to join General Lafayette on a farewell visit to the former president James Monroe at his Leesburg, Virginia estate.

Representative of the People

In a move that stunned many as "degrading to a former president," Adams stood for a seat in the House of Representatives in 1831, responding that serving the people as a representative in Congress was not degrading. He served the people in Congress until he died in 1848. In those years, he fought tirelessly against slavery and its expansion and against the various ploys by the slave block in Congress to expand and maintain their peculiar institution.

President John Quincy Adams

Bold Advocate

When Africans arrested aboard the slave ship Amistad were bound to return to their masters, John Quincy Adams took up their cause, defending them in front of The US Supreme Court—and won their freedom. Adams's entire career had pointed him toward one primary goal—doing the right thing. In this, he had a mic of success and failure, but his undaunting efforts placed him among the best of early America's following (post-founding fathers) generation of leaders.

Defending the Armistead Slaves

The Lion's Last Roar

Adams was in the House of Representatives, battling a bill to honor Mexican War veterans. Adams had vehemently opposed the war as one of aggression partly aimed at expanding slavery. He stood to decry the vote when he collapsed. He was rushed to the Speaker's Room, where he died two days later, on 23 February 1848, from a stroke. The boy prodigy, now the lion of Congress, went down working and fighting at the age of 81 with his wife Louisa at his side. It is alleged that his last words were, "This is the last of earth, but I am composed."

  

Adams Died a Servant of  the People

The Third Virginian

 

It is a sad commentary that most Americans are more familiar with Marilyn  Monroe than the first patriot with the same last name. And who knows? Maybe the Hollywood type who renamed Norma Jean was a history buff? But I digress. This profile reintroduces one of those nose-to-the-grindstone founders who quietly made his mark on America and the world. The fact that James Monroe is also an important historical figure in my novel, The Lafayette Circle, makes his story even more compelling.

Norma Jean

Planter Orphan

James Monroe was born at the aptly-named Monroe Hall in Westmorland County, Virginia, on 28 April 1758. James's father was a mildly prosperous planter. Both of his parents died when Monroe was in his teens, and he took over the plantation and care of his siblings under the guidance of his mother's brother, Joseph Jones, a member of the House of Burgesses. Jones took young Monroe to Williamsburg and enrolled him in the College of William and Mary. His uncle also introduced him to the likes of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry—up-and-coming Virginians who would help change the world, as would young James.

Williamsburg

Patriotic Student

Williamsburg was abuzz with patriotic fervor. Monroe was still attending William and Mary College when the Revolutionary War broke out in April 1775. Eager to get into the fray as so many young Virginians were, he left William and Mary, and on 28 September 1775, Monroe was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 3rd Virginia Continental Infantry. His first commander was Colonel Hugh Mercer, who would rise to become one of General George Washington's most trusted generals until his untimely death by British bayonets at Princeton. Lieutenant Monroe marched north to  New York City with his regiment the following year.

The Virginia Line

Years of Combat

There, he first saw combat at Harlem Heights on 16 September 1776 and volunteered to accompany the rangers of Major Thomas Knowlton. Knowlton, mortally wounded in the skirmish, became the namesake of the Military Intelligence Corps' honorary award, which bears his name.

After additional fighting at White Plains in October, British General William Howe managed to turn the flank of the Continental Army but allowed it to slip away to New Jersey. Monroe's regiment marched south and west in a series of retreats that saw the Continental Army dwindle and American morale plummet. By late December, Washington's meager force was huddled on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River and in dire straits.

An Army in Retreat

Things changed with the arrival of General John Sullivan at the head of the division of General Charles Lee. Curiously, Lee had allowed himself to get captured at BoskingRidge, New Jersey, by a party of British dragoons, including a young Banastre Tarleton. 

John Sullivan

Crossing the Delaware

The added troops meant Washington was able to launch the plan he had been deliberating since crossing into Pennsylvania—a return across the Delaware. With Howe's forces controlling New York City and most of the Jerseys, the cause was at its nadir. He needed a bold stroke, so on Christmas night, Lieutenant James Monroe and Captain William Washington's company of Colonel Weedon's Third Virginia were poling their long Durham boats through the ice floes jamming the Delaware River. It was the night of the 25th  and about as silent as Washington could hope for as his columns trudged through the blustery cold along icy wooded trails. Monroe had met a man named Riker along the way. He was at first thought a Loyalist, but it turned out he was quite the patriot and joined the ragged force plunging toward the Hessian-occupied town of Trenton.

Crossing the Delaware

Christmas Surprise

At daylight on the 26th, the Continental forces attacked the sleeping town. Sentries were driven from their posts as the Virginians moved in from the north. Their objective—a two-gun battery manned by Hessians was positioned to blast the advancing Americans of Nathanael Green's brigade. The town was chaotic as sleepy musketeers and grenadiers stumbled from their quarters and shouldered firelocks.

Nathanael Greene

The pop, pop of desultory musket fire filled the chilly morning air. This soon grew in intensity, sending Monroe's company scattering for cover—they were the vanguard of their regiment and brigade. The Americans began to return fire, and more Continentals were arriving down King Street. 

The boom of cannon from behind filled them with confidence. General Henry Knox's batteries were in action. Musket fire to the south also meant General Sullivan's brigades were attacking. But ahead lay that pesky Hessian battery, ready to cut down the advancing column and thwart the attack. 

American Artillery Opens Fire

The order came from Captain Washington, "Forward!" The company rose as one and moved forward at a trot, the men's fingers frozen to the muskets in hand as the icy mix of sleet seared their faces and stung their eyes. The buzz of lead was all around them, and Captain Washington suddenly dropped to a knee, clutching his hands, which streamed blood. Lieutenant Monroe was suddenly in command.

William Washington

He charged forward with the company moving at the double, and soon, the Hessian gunners, who were not shot or on the run, were raiding their hands and being marched to captivity. But not before a lead ball tore into Monroe's chest, staggering him and soaking his uniform in blood. Carried to an aid post where Washington was being treated, it was soon evident the ball had torn an artery—a mortal wound.

Monroe led the charge toward the Hessian guns

But fortune smiled on James Monroe as well as George Washington that morning. As it turned out, Riker, Monroe never learned his first name, was a surgeon. And rare for those times, a very competent surgeon. He was able to close the artery and save the future president from bleeding to death in a battle that had no soldiers killed and just five wounded, including Monroe and Washington. He was promoted to captain for his gallantry.

Battles Lost and Won

Monroe recovered fully from his wound and served ably at the Battle of Brandywine and Germantown in the fall of 1777. His performance in those battles gained him a promotion to major and appointment as aide-de-camp to General William Alexander on 20 November 1777. Major Monroe fought at the Battle of Monmouth on 28 June 1778, one of the hardest-fought engagements of the war and the last major battle in the north. But Monroe, who was essentially broke and unable to enlist troops, resigned from the Continental Army on 20 November. This was common. Many Continental Army officers who served honorably left to enter business, return to farming, or engage in politics. Alexander Hamilton is just one example.

Battle of Brandywine

Law and Politics

Back in civilian life, Monroe studied law under Governor Thomas Jefferson, a relationship that would impact their lives and the nation's fate. When Charleston fell in 1781, Virginia planned to raise several new regiments, and Monroe was given the rank of lieutenant colonel, although he never served in combat.

Thomas Jefferson

His military career flatlined, but Monroe's political career was on an upward arc—a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, followed by the Confederation Congress. Later, he served in the state constitutional convention. Like many prominent Virginians (Patrick Henry, George Mason), he opposed the proposed constitution for its centralized authority. That did not stop him from taking a seat in the new US Senate in 1790. 

Diplomacy

Monroe's international and diplomatic career began in 1794 when President George Washington appointed him US Envoy to France. His career in factional politics started three years later when he returned to Virginia and joined the anti-Federalist opposition organized by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. This Virginia triumvirate would profoundly affect US politics and the trajectory of the new nation. 

James Madison

Monroe was elected Governor of Virginia in 1799. Still, in 1802, President Jefferson appointed him Envoy to France to bolster Robert Livingston's negotiations with Napoleon Bonaparte over the Louisiana Territory, which the US purchased from France the following year for 15 million dollars—doubling the size of the US. Afterward, Monroe served as minister to Great Britain, where he negotiated a commercial treaty in 1806, which the US Senate rejected because it did not address the hot-button topic of the day, impressment.

Napoleon Bonaparte

A Second War with England

After another stint in Virginia politics, Monroe served as President Madison's Secretary of State in 1811. Tensions with Great Britain during that period resulted in the war. The War of 1812 was not going well, so in August 1814, Madison temporarily appointed him Secretary of War. The third member of the Virginia triumvirate, James Monroe, was elected the nation's fifth president in 1816—pretty good teamwork.

British Army Burns Washington in 1814

Chief Executive

The nation was growing by leaps and bounds when Monroe took office, and a growing sense of American patriotism and exceptionalism, if not nationalism, was everywhere. During this so-called Era of Good Feelings, Monroe and his Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, strove to advance America's position on a global stage. A brief war in 1819 against the Florida Seminoles, successfully waged by General Andrew Jackson, led to the Spanish sale of West Florida to the US in 1820, propelling him into a second term.

President James Monroe

The Era of Good Feelings

In 1819, James Monroe became the first American president since George Washington to travel the nation on a goodwill tour. The nation was expanding west into the Louisiana Territory, the war with Britain was over, and America had stood on its own against the world's only superpower. The Spanish colonies of South America were throwing off the Spanish yoke and forging their own democracies. America seemed the model of the future. With the nation's 50th anniversary just a few years off, the American experiment seemed on a glide path to a prosperous future.

President Washington

The Holy Alliance

Not all nations welcomed the success of American democracy and the implosion of the Spanish empire. At the 1815 Congress of Vienna, the autocratic countries Prussia, Austria, and Russia formed a political bond called the Holy Alliance. Holy because they still felt their rulers' authority came from God—the divine right of kings. They now eyed the Spanish colonies. This did not escape the notice of Britain, which had its own interests in the New World and did not welcome intruders.

Congress of Vienna

The Monroe Doctrine

In 1822, Monroe's administration officially recognized the new democracies of America: Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Chile, and Mexico, after they won independence from Spain. The British approached Monroe with the idea of a joint statement of status quo ante in the New World, but when he ran it by his Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, Adams demurred. Why should the US not issue its own policy? After all, Britain was still our rival, and we had just fought a war with them. He offered to help draft a letter to Congress laying out the idea that external powers should not interfere in the affairs of the Americas—no new colonies. Drafted in 1823, it was released in early 1824.

Crafting the Monroe Doctrine

Vive Lafayette

As all this transpired, Monroe's administration decided to leverage the popularity of the last surviving general of the Continental Army, the Marquis de Lafayette. What better way to highlight American exceptionalism, celebrate the upcoming anniversary, honor a war hero, and send a political shot across the bow of nations like the Holy Alliance? The year-long visit began in August 1824, coinciding with the election of John Quincy Adams, who succeeded Monroe in 1825. 

General Lafayette's Visit was a Tour de Force

Final Years

The former planter, politician, soldier, and statesman retired to his estate outside Leesburg, Virginia, with his wife, Elizabeth (Kortright) Monroe. President John Quincy Adams and General Lafayette visited the couple just before Lafayette's return to France. They had lots to reminisce over. After all, they were both wounded in service to America—and the young General Lafayette was also present at  Trenton, Brandywine, and Monmouth. 

Elizabeth (Kortright) Monroe

Ironically, the last member of the Virginia triumvirate would move to New  York City upon Elizabeth's death in 1830. He resided with his daughter and her family at 63 Prince Street—on Lafayette Square. James Monroe became the third president to die on Independence Day when he succumbed to heart failure and tuberculosis on 4 July 1831.

Noble Patriot

 Noble Patriot

The American War for Independence gained the attention of all the European powers, and even the nobility and royalty were, at least initially, enthralled by it as the embodiment of the ideals of The Age of Reason. It did not take long before many of the nobility and upper class were scrambling to join the effort to secure liberty. Soon, names like Steuben, Kosciusko, de Kalb, and Pulaski joined the ranks of the Continental Army. Each made his mark in the Glorious Cause, but none so much as Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.

Major General Lafayette

Old Blood, Old Money

Lafayette was born into one of the oldest families in France's aristocracy on 6 September 1757. The young Lafayette had a troubled youth despite a rich lineage, wealth, and privilege. His father, Michel de Lafayette, was struck by a cannonball fighting the British at the Battle of Minden, leaving him an orphan and marquis at two. As was typical of his class, Lafayette was commissioned into a French royal musketeer regiment at thirteen. However, his actual leadership experience was limited to parade and garrison duties when not partaking of the pleasures at court.

Lafayette senior fell at Minden

He was early on engaged to Marie Adrienne Françoise, the daughter of a powerful Duc d'Ayen, whom he married at sixteen (she was two years younger). The arranged match also proved a love match, and despite many trials and tribulations, the pair stayed together until she died in 1807. In 1776, the young marquis received a commission as a captain of dragoons, which should have begun his climb up the French military hierarchy, but for events across the ocean.

A Young Idealist

Lafayette was well-read in the classics and the principles of the Enlightenment, and from an early age, hoped to make a difference for mankind. By 1776, the political friction in America had erupted into open rebellion against the King of England. Like so many others, he followed the events with interest. Unlike so many others, he decided to act on his principles, which he saw enshrined in the sentiments of The Declaration of Independence — he determined to throw his lot in with the Americans and strike a blow for liberty. Equality and fraternity would have to wait, however.

The Declaration of Independence inspired Lafayette 

An American Agent

But what to do? Silas Deane, an American politician from Connecticut, represented the American Continental Congress in Paris — in effect, he was an American agent. Many European officers approached Deane to solicit commissions in the Continental Army. Deane's job was to screen them and make referrals of those with bona fide military experience or who provided some other advantage to the American cause. Lafayette's youth and inexperience would have usually precluded a referral, but his pedigree and connections at court, combined with his evident enthusiasm, got him a referral.

Silas Deane

Outlaw

Lafayette's family, especially his powerful father-in-law, objected to the move. As did his wife. She was pregnant. Influenced by the Duc d'Ayen, the government also refused permission for Lafayette to travel, expressly forbidding it. At the time, Deane was negotiating secret assistance from the French government and overt support. The presence of such a nobleman fighting for America would alarm the British. But the headstrong idealist bucked authority and managed to sneak into Spain, where he eventually boarded the ship Victoire, loaded with ordnance for the American cause. King Louis XVI subsequently declared him an outlaw. How much of this was actual pique at his disobedience or to throw off the British is hard to say, but likely both.

Lafayette escaped France via a subterfuge

Coming to America

The nineteen-year-old marquis landed in South Carolina in 1777, accompanied by several officers, including Baron Johann de Kalb, a French nobleman who would give his life for the American cause. He then traveled to Philadelphia to claim his promised commission as a major general. Congress hesitated due to his youth and inexperience. Major general was the army's highest rank at the time, and only a few were serving, but because of his connections, they finally appointed him — without command.

Johann de Kalb

Meeting His Excellency

Lafayette met Washington for the first time at a reception held in Philadelphia in August 1777 when the commander-in-chief came to the capital to consult with Congress on military matters. The two shook hands in the receiving line and then met privately — bonding almost immediately. Washington was impressed by his enthusiasm and military bearing. He returned to camp with Washington, but his status was still unclear. Lafayette still expected a field command. Was his commission actual or honorary? Washington took him into his "military family" and made him a sort of senior advisor.

Meeting with Washington

First Battle, First Blood, First Winter

The youthful general's mettle was tested the following month at the Battle of Brandywine, where Lafayette received a leg wound while helping rally a regiment fleeing the field. His mentor was pleased. His gallantry earned him a small command. In late  November, he led a detachment of 300 infantry in a skirmish against a large force of the vaunted Hessians at Gloucester, New Jersey — repulsing the Germans. His enthusiasm and energy throughout the harsh winter quarters at Valley Forge and his willingness to suffer along with the rest of the army further endeared him to Washington. A father-son relationship had developed. The childless Washington and fatherless Lafayette had a unique bond.

Wounded at Brandywine

Warmth of Spring

As winter ebbed, the sun's rays warmed the earth, and both the Continental and British forces uncoiled from hibernation and began to stir. Lord George Germain had recalled General William Howe to London to be replaced by his number two, General Henry Clinton. A new strategy was in motion, and Germain ordered Clinton to abandon Philadelphia for the security of New York, as a chunk of his troops were being sent to protect British interests in the West Indies.

Major General William Howe

Aware of upcoming changes, General Washington sent with an even larger command, a division of 2,000 troops and five guns, to observe British movements in and out of Philadelphia. Lafayette deployed his division in the vicinity of Barren Hills, Pennsylvania. Howe had not yet departed and decided to thrash the upstart Frenchman before he left. He dispatched the formidable General James Grant with 5,000 men and fifteen guns to entrap Lafayette. A three-pronged maneuver by Grant had British and Hessian columns on three sides of Lafayette's command, but he saw the trap about to be sprung and wisely slipped away via a road he knew would evade British observation.

British grenadiers advancing at Barren Hills

Lafayette's ability to quickly assess a tactical situation maneuver to safety pleased Washington, who entrusted him with a more significant command the following month. By the end of June 1778, Howe was gone, and Clinton led the bulk of his army overland to NewYork, crossing the hot, humid fields of New Jersey with the Continental Army following. 

Foul Up and Success at Monmouth

At Monmouth Court House, the British paused for a rest. Not ready to commit to an all-out attack, Washington agreed to send a  force to strike Clinton's rear guard. When his second in command, General Charles Lee, demurred from leading the attack, Lafayette offered his services. Wahington accepted the offer, but the wily Lee decided he wanted the command after all and marched off with Lafayette.

Washington at Monmouth

When the Americans launched their attack, the British, rather than retreat as was hoped, turned and fought, then when reinforced, the British rear guard counterattacked. Faced with a stiff fight, Lee gave conflicting orders, causing chaos in the American ranks. Seeing the American line crumbling and confusion growing, Lafayette sent a message to Washington to urge him to ride forward and take command. Washington was incensed when he arrived and began rallying the troops and relieved Lee of command (in a famous confrontation). The line steadied, and the Continental Army fought toe toe-to-toe with the Britsh, the swirl of combat ending at dark with both sides sleeping on the line. The following day, Lafayette rose and awakened Washington. As the two generals peered across the misty fields at dawn, the Britsh had retreated.

Summer in Newport

Lafayette was given command of two brigades as part of General John Sullivan's hapless expedition to Rhode Island that summer. The taking of the vital port hinged on cooperation with the naval forces of France's admiral Charles-Hector Theodat, comte d'Estaing. One of Lafayette's tasks was to convince the obstinate d'Estaing to support the American effort, but d'Estaing demurred. On 9 August, Sullivan's land forces attacked the British without d'Estaing, who refused to place his ships in Narragansett Bay. A storm struck, scattering the French and British fleets, and the land force attack failed. Sullivan's northern army withdrew, with Lafayette playing a pivotal role in keeping it an orderly retreat.

Admiral d'Estaing

 Home for the Holidays

In January 1779, the young marquis went on furlough, returning to France to advocate for wider French involvement in the war. Lafayette was initially arrested after landing on French soil, but the king quickly pardoned him. He was received in Paris as a hero, a sort of rock star — King Louis actually promoted him to colonel in the French Army. 

Louis XVI

Things were different with France and Spain openly at war with Britain. Lafayette proposed a joint invasion of Britain with him in command. However, the Spanish ships did not arrive until August, and a British fleet of fast ships complicated the plan, which was eventually abandoned. 

The Francp-Spanish  naval invasion of Britain was canceled

So, Lafayette refocused on gaining more support for the American cause, collaborating with American Commissioner Benjamin Franklin to arrange French troops for North America. He also refocused on his family, and in December, Adrienne gave birth to a son, whom he proudly named George Washington Lafayette. 

Benjamin Franklin

Meanwhile, the king had agreed to send more forces to America. He dispatched Lafayette to return with news of General Jean-Baptiste,comte de Rochambeau's impending arrival with some 6,000 men. Lafayette dutifully sailed from Rochefort to America aboard the frigate Hermione, arriving in Boston on 27 April 1780.

Fighting for Liberty

Washington, the commander-in-chief of both nation's forces, used Lafayette as a high-level liaison between Rochambeau and himself. Little was accomplished during the remainder of 1780. Washington and Rochambeau's forces postured while the generals pondered and planned. Most of the fighting was taking place in the Carolinas, where the British launched a successful invasion but then got tied down, trying to hold on to what they grabbed. 

General Rochambeau

But by 1781, trouble and opportunity beckoned in the warmer climes of Virginia when General Charles Cornwallis marched north from the Carolinas to establish firm British control over the Old Dominion in a desperate ploy to reshape the balance of power. British forces under Generals William Phillips and Benedict Arnold ( the same) based out of Portsmouth had advanced as far as the new capital in Richmond and raided as far as Charlottesville. 

British Brigadier General Benedict Arnold

General Friedrich von Steuben's small detachment of Virginia militia did what they could to block and harass. Still, it was not enough, and now the impending arrival of another army from the Carolinas put von Steuben and Washington's home state at grave risk. 

The Old Dominion

But with risk came opportunity. So, in response, Washington sent Lafayette to Virginia to support and take command of all American forces. Lafayette spent several weeks sparring with Cornwallis around Richmond and Petersburg. The canny veteran, Cornwallis, made several efforts to overpower the young general. But  Lafayette was up to the task. 

Lafayette led the way in the Old Dominion

At Green Spring on 6 July 1781, he moved quickly to support the beleaguered forces under General Anthony Wayne. Cornwallis was soon boxed into the Virginia peninsula, where Lafayette pushed him slowly toward Williamsburg and the supposed refuge on the York River. Tipped off by an African-American spy named James Armistead,  the young marquis carefully shadowed Cornwallis to Yorktown and helped trap him in his works. 

Yorktown

By August, Cornwallis had established his base at Yorktown, and the marquis positioned his forces on Malvern Hill, placing guns zeroed in on the British. Cornwallis's tired and now disease-ridden army waited for supplies and reinforcement from or evacuation to New York. Thanks to the French fleet, it would come too late for him and his men.

Major General Charles Cornwallis

Washington and Rochambeau's forces converged on Williamsburg after force marching from New York. Lafayette met them and helped plan the final phase of the campaign — besieging Yorktown. Time was critical as the weather would allow the French navy to linger only a few more weeks. 

Storming the Redoubt

Lafayette commanded the Light Infantry Division during the siege and was in overall command of the French and American forces that stormed Redoubts Nine and Ten, the final nail in the British coffin. On 19 October 1781, Cornwallis's army grounded arms and marched into captivity. The war would not end for two long years, but most major combat on land had ended.

Surrender at Yorktown

What Next?

The British still clung stubbornly to garrisons throughout the Carolinas and firmly held Savannah, Georgia. Lafayette offered to command forces to capture them, but Washington was confident in Major General Nathanael Green's handling of the South. Besides, Lafayette would prove more valuable as an advocate for more naval and monetary support from France.

General Nathanael Greene

Lafayette traveled north to Philadelphia, where Congress appointed him its advisor to the commissioners in Europe, Ben Franklin (Paris), John Jay (Madrid), and John Adams (The Hague), and sent a letter of commendation for the marquis to the King of France.

Hero of Two Worlds

On 18 December 1781, the young hero of two worlds sailed from Boston for France. Everywhere welcomed the hero, Lafayette had an audience with the king at the Palace of Versailles on 22 January 1782. Louis XVI named him maréchal de camp and a Knight of the Order of Saint Louis. Lafayette went to work helping plan a Spanish-French expedition against the West Indies as the war was now a world war and, despite Yorktown, far from over. He also helped advise the negotiations that led to The Treaty of Paris in 1783.

Treaty of Paris signing

But possibly Lafayette's greatest triumph and joy was reuniting with his family. He was there for the birth of his daughter, Marie Antoinette Virginie Motier de la Fayette, on 17 September 1782. Prospects for the marquis and his family were bright. Wealth, nobility, military success, and fame glorified him. Freedom had triumphed in the New World. Now, the young idealist sought ways to replicate the same in the Old World.