Lafayette - Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (1757-1834) French statesman and soldier; major general in the American Continental army and a close friend of George Washington. Manuscript Letter Signed ("Lafayette"), 1¼ pages, 9½ x 10 inches, Annapolis, March 10, 1781. With orders to Colonel (Joseph) Vose (1738-1816) of the First Massachusetts, one of his unit commanders (who would become a charter member of the Society of the Cincinnati). The paper is toned with small holes and separations along the folds, affecting only a few letters. Housed in an 11 x 11¼ inch double-sided frame. Revolutionary War-date letters from Lafayette are rare. Orders for the transportation of troops by water, rather than by foot or horse, are unusual.
In full: "From some intelligence which met me at this place, I find it will be very dangerous, for the Fleet to proceed down the Bay, without a proper Convoy….I therefore request you, to wait at this place my further orders, till which I beg you in conjunction with Commodore (James) Nicholson, to use every means necessary, for your security & to prepare Provisions, wood, &c. sufficient for your passage down to Hampton. I wish the men to be constantly on board, except such a number, as you find necessary, for the purpose of getting off the Articles you want. Should any thing happen that I cannot at present foresee, I beg you to consult with the commanding officers of Regiments, and Commodore Nicholson and take such steps as you, and they may find necessary. I have the honor to be with esteem your humble servt. Lafayette."
In January 1781, Benedict Arnold, now a British brigadier general, was wreaking havoc along the James River and Hampton Roads port towns and Governor Thomas Jefferson appealed to General Washington. In February 1781, Washington ordered Lafayette south with a force of some 1,200 New England and New Jersey troops. They were to be complemented by 1200 French troops, which were to be taken to Virginia by the French naval squadron. Lafayette and his force arrived at Head of Elk (Elkton, MD) on March 3, but there were not enough boats for his men to proceed down river. On March 8 Lafayette moved his men to Plum's Point and Cecil's Ferry while he went on ahead of his troops to Annapolis, then took a barge and proceeded further down the Bay with the intention of meeting von Steuben in Virginia. French Admiral Destouches, with 1,100 grenadiers and chasseurs under Baron de Vioménil, Rochambeau's second in command, departed Newport, RI, for Virginia waters, followed soon thereafter by a British fleet, which managed to get ahead of the French and gain possession of the Chesapeake. On March 10, Lafayette wrote this letter to Col. Joseph Vose, with orders to prepare for their trip south. Lafayette's Virginia Campaign, which involved months of encounters and engagements with the British, contributed to Washington's decision to face the British in the South rather than New York and served as a prelude to the Yorktown Campaign, which resulted in the surrender of Cornwallis and the beginning of negotiations between the United States and Great Britain to end the war.
This letter was acquired by the consignor in 1970 from a Massachusetts neighbor who found it in the attic of the house where the family had lived for genernations. The consignor took it to Goodspeeds in Boston to ascertain a fair purchase price. Lafayette war-date orders are rare.
Estimated Value $4,000 - 6,000
Colonial and Revolutionary America
