Major General Lafayette to George Washington, 7 March 1781
From Major General Lafayette
Head of Elk [Md.] March the 7th [1781]
My dear General
Contrary Winds, Heavy Rains, disappointements of Vessels, And Every Inconvenience to which we Had No Remedy Have Been from the day of My Arrival Combined Against our Embarkatio⟨n⟩ I Hope However We will Be on Board to Morrow Morning, and As Nothing Certain Has Been Heard from the french Ships, No time will Be Lost on our Part for the Celerity of the Expedition.1
The troops will Embark five Miles Below this place, and three Miles Higher up than the point where General Howe Land’d2—There will Be More Room for the Arrangement of our Vessels, and the Shallowness of Water Insures us Against the Enterprises of Any Vessel of force—In this Situation We May Waït for Intelligences from our friends.
The State of Maryland Have Made to Me Every offer in their power3—I will improve this Opportunity of Making up Some deficiencies in the Quarter Master And Engeneer departements, of insuring to us A Good Stock of provisions And Upon the intelligence Received that Baron de stubens was gone with a large detachement to the Southward I Had Hinted the possibility of Getting Some Militia from the lower Counties and Repairing some Cannon at Baltimore4—But Having Read the inclosed Letter from the Baron,5 I Will write Again to Governor Lee (as My letter Has Been gone But two days) and save the State from Any Expense of that kind.6
to the obtaining of the Vessels Has Been joined the difficulty of getting them up the River, as they were taking Every opportunity to Slip off—All the Vessels, three Excepted, Are Only Bay Crafts, and our Admiral Ship Mounts twelve Guns—I Have prepared Some kind of orders for that fleet But Hope to Be Relieved from My Naval Command By the Arrival of a french frigat, and Have at all events Sent for Commodore Nichlson of Baltimore—Mister McHenry Has Been Very Active in Accelerating the Measures of His state.
By a Letter from Clel Gouvion dated Wihecomoco River I find that After Many Adventures He Had Landed there on the 4th and Was proceding By Land to His destination7—The Wind is fair Enough to Come up the Bay and I Hope Soon to Hear from our friends.8
The inclosed Letter from the Baron Having first Come into My Hand, and Being on public Service As It Was Writen upon to Be forwarded with dispatch I took the Liberty to oppen it—But Was Very Sorry to Have done it after a Letter of the same date Had Come Also to Hand. Both say the Same thing (at least in Every Material point) and I Am Happy to find that the Baron’s preparations Are Going on Rapidly.9
Whatever May Be the Baron’s opinion upon the facility of taking Sword in Hand the fortifications at porsmouth, I will not Hazard Any thing Before I Have Considered the Matter With My own Eyes—Arnold Had So Much time to prepare, and plays So deep a game—Nature Has Made the position So Respectable, and Some of the troops under His orders Have Been in So Many Actions, that I don’t flatter Myself to Succed So Easely as it May Be thought—The prospect of preserving Naval Superiority Must, I think, decide if we Are to save Blood Shed By Regular Approaches, or to Risk our men into the dangers of An Assault—But I would like to destroy the Works in some Measure, Before We Attempt to Storm them—A Conversation With the Baron, with Clel Gouvion, and Some other officers, joined to What I Can See Myself Will Better fix My Mind on the Matter than it Can Be at present.
When I Left philadelphia General Waïne Was Not far from Hoping He Could soon Collect thousand Men, But I am Not So sanguine in My Expectations—I am However trying to prepare Matters for this Number of Men, But think that A Sufficiency of Vessels (unless ours are Sent Back) Will Not Be obtained Within a few days—Let General Waïne Arrive in time or Not, When He Comes Under My direction, I Wish to know if in Case we Succeed He Must Be Sent on to General Greene.
supposing He is to go there, Would Your Excellency think of Selecting Some Riflemen for the Grand Army? It seems to Me that I Heard You once Mentionning this Matter.
The State of Virginia, I am told, finds difficulties to the keeping of prisoners—Suppose Some thing of the kind Was started to Me, Am I to Alter Any thing in What You Said to Me on the Subject?
I Am in A Great Hurry to Go, My dear General, But, let us Succeed or fall in the object we Have in View, I sha’nt Be less Hurried to Return With the detachement to Head Quarters, Where I Hope to Be again as Soon as You May possibly Expect. With the Highest Respect and Most tender Affection I Have the Honor to Be, My dear General, Your Most obedient Servant and Affectionate friend
Lafayette
⟨I⟩ Beg You will present My Respects to Mrs Washington and Mistress Hamilton and My Compliments to the Family—I Have Receiv’d Mister Washington’s Answ⟨e⟩r—He is waiting for me at the Baron’s quarters.10
ALS, DLC:GW; copy, PEL. GW’s aide-de-camp Tench Tilghman docketed the ALS as answered on 4 April, but GW replied to Lafayette on 5 April. The postscript of the ALS appears as the final part of the copy.
1. Lafayette had been ordered to Virginia with a corps detached from the main army to cooperate with a French expedition expected to arrive in the Chesapeake Bay (see GW’s second letter to Lafayette, 20 Feb., and the source note to that document).
2. Lafayette refers to the landing of British general William Howe’s command in 1777 (see GW’s second letter to John Hancock, 25 Aug. 1777, and GW to Hancock, 27 Aug. 1777).
3. On 3 March, the Maryland council had written Lafayette from Annapolis: “We have the Honor to transmit the enclosed Letter, this Moment received from Col. Gouvins. We have ordered all the Vessels at Baltimore and in this Port to be impressed and sent to the Head of Elk to transport the Detachment under your Command, and have directed six hundred Barrels of Bread to be forwarded in them. This State will most chearfully make every Exertion to give Force and Efficacy to the present important Expedition by every Measure in our Power” (, 45:337; see also n.7 below). On 28 Feb., the Maryland council had issued impress warrants for transportation to support the movements of Lafayette’s corps (see , 45:329–30; see also Maryland council to David Poe, 2 March, in , 45:335). Between 28 Feb. and 7 March, the council ordered the procurement or seizure of provisions (see the council’s letters to Henry Hollingsworth, 28 Feb. and 7 March; to Stephen Steward, 5 March; and to the Commissaries of the Eastern Shore except Cecil County, 7 March, in , 45:331, 338, 343–44).
4. See Lafayette to Thomas Sim Lee and the Governor’s Council of Maryland, 5 March, in , 3:372–74.
5. For the enclosed letter, see Steuben to GW, 1 March, and n.9 below.
6. Lafayette wrote Lee and the governor’s council on 8 March (see , 3:385; see also Lafayette to Lee and the Governor’s Council of Maryland, 6 March, in , 3:375–76).
7. Lieutenant Colonel Gouvion’s letter to Lafayette has not been identified, but see n.3 above. Gouvion had proceeded to Virginia to aid in preparations for the French fleet (see GW to Lafayette, 1 March).
There are two rivers named Wicomico in Maryland. Lafayette likely refers to the Wicomico River that rises near the Charles County-Prince Georges County line and flows south to the Potomac River. The other Wicomico River, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, rises in northern Wicomico County near the Delaware border and flows southwest into Tangier Sound on the Chesapeake Bay.
8. Lafayette refers to the French.
9. Major General Steuben wrote GW on 1 March about his preparations to attack British brigadier general Benedict Arnold’s forces at Portsmouth, Va., in conjunction with Lafayette’s troops and the expected French fleet. Steuben’s letter to Lafayette on 1 March has not been identified, but he wrote Lafayette on 7 March: “I told you in my last that I thought our expedition would be very easy if you could, under the protection of the French vessels, make immediate entry into the James River, where you would then have set foot, so to speak, on the field of battle” (, 3:380–81).
10. The letter from Washington’s nephew George Augustine Washington to Lafayette has not been identified. He had served as an aide-de-camp to Lafayette.