To George Washington from Jean-Baptiste-Raymond de Fénis, comte de La Prade, 20 October 1796
From Jean-Baptiste-Raymond de Fénis,
comte de La Prade
october the 20th 1796
Merton grove, Surrey, near London1
general
it is to the greatest of men, it is to the uncommon equity, which distinguishes him, that I dare entrust my grief.
since four years I lost my country and I believe I have lost it for ever, since I have no relations, no friends, no azylum left there. I wish to find one in a country where peace florishes and where laws are in Vigour.
I have a wife and children to take care of, without any other resource, than a hope in your generosity: I ought to believe that to excite it in my favour, it was sufficient to be an honest man, and unhappy.
I can recall to your memory, general, that I was one of the first charged with dispaches from the King of france, under the orders of the late count of Vergennes, I had the honour of delivering them into your own hands;2 I was, at my return, the first captain appointed by Mr franklin, American ambassador: charged with orders from him;3 I was made prisoner near the Coasts of Boston on the ship L’aimable therèse, and carried to Plymouth in England, where I was twice Sent by Mr de Vergennes for the interests of the united States. afterwards I was honoured with the Cincinnatus’s order.
under your orders, general: under your protection, I would still hope for happiness obey to the dictates of Your heart, and I will go immediately to implore your assistance. I am with respect general Your Most humble and obedient servant
Signed. Count fenis de la Prâde,
formerly colonel of Dragoons,
Knight of the Military orders of S. Lewis and Cincinnatus
Translation, DLC:GW; ALS (in French), DLC:GW. No reply to La Prade from GW has been found.
Jéan-Baptiste-Raymond de Fénis, comte de La Prade (b. 1753), served in his youth as a gendarme and later as a captain-lieutenant of the King’s Guard. He sailed for America in 1776 but was captured off Boston Harbor and taken to Plymouth, England. After his release, La Prade participated as a volunteer in the French fleet during the naval campaigns of 1778–80 in the West Indies, and took part in the 1779 siege of Savannah. As a result, La Prade was given honorary membership in the French Society of the Cincinnati. He continued his military career in Europe in the 1780s and early 1790s. Named a chevalier (knight) in the royal and military order of Saint-Louis in 1788, La Prade was promoted in 1789 to mestre de camp (colonel) of a cavalry corps that he had raised for the service of Holland. Except for his brief service during the French Revolution in the counter-revolutionary army led by Louis-Joseph de Bourbon, prince de Condé, La Prade served with the cavalry corps in Holland until the French army’s invasion of the Netherlands in 1794–95. He was then forced to emigrate, probably immediately to England.
La Prade had written Rufus King, the U.S. minister to Great Britain, to solicit a military appointment, land grant, and pension from the United States. King replied to him from London in a letter of 18 Sept.: “The members of the Society of Cincinnatus do not receive any pensions from the U.S. … The Military Establishment of the U.S. has always been small & since the peace lately made with the Savages, this establishment has been made less; so that no vacancies exist either in the infantry or cavalry. The U.S. have lands for sale … but they do not grant any lands gratuitously; neither do they … defray the Expenses of Passages to foreigners inclined to become American Citizens” (, 2:88).
1. Located in the parish of Wimbledon in Surrey County, England, Merton Grove was the home of Sir Richard Hotham, a British merchant and former member of Parliament. Hotham built Merton Grove, also referred to as Wimbledon Grove, around 1790–92. It was located on a field adjacent to his former home, Merton Place, situated on the southern boundary of Wimbledon.
2. The dispatches from King Louis XVI that La Prade delivered to GW on the orders of former French foreign minister Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, have not been identified.
3. The orders from Benjamin Franklin have not been identified.