Life of General Lafayette; . Army—Jealousies—Magnanimity ofLafayette—Battle of Brandywine—Feint by Knyphausen—Contra-dictory Advices—Position of the American Troops—Defeat of theAmerican Right Wing—Abandonment of Chadds Ford—Gallantryof Lafayette—Retreat of the Americans—Comparative Force of thetwo Armies—Loss on each Side—Reflections on the Battle. ANY of the foreign military officerswho came to this country to servein the Revolutionary War, were mostexacting in their demands, both inregard to rank and pay. The friendsof America in France, before FrankHn ar-rived in that country with a true k
Life of General Lafayette; . Army—Jealousies—Magnanimity ofLafayette—Battle of Brandywine—Feint by Knyphausen—Contra-dictory Advices—Position of the American Troops—Defeat of theAmerican Right Wing—Abandonment of Chadds Ford—Gallantryof Lafayette—Retreat of the Americans—Comparative Force of thetwo Armies—Loss on each Side—Reflections on the Battle. ANY of the foreign military officerswho came to this country to servein the Revolutionary War, were mostexacting in their demands, both inregard to rank and pay. The friendsof America in France, before FrankHn ar-rived in that country with a true know^ledgeof the state of things in this, held out induce-ments and prospects which it was impossiblecould be realized; and Congress added to the diffi-culty by directing or requesting more commissionsto be granted than there were vacancies to was a natural jealousy on the part of Americanofficers against the foreigners who presented suchextravagant claims; and this train of circumstances. 26 LIFE OF LAFAYETTE. presented one of the great sources of difficulty,over which the wisdom and moderation of Wash-ington was finally successful. It was unquestion-ably true that the services of experienced soldierswere in the highest degree useful in the revolutionaryarmy. The enthusiasm of resistance to oppression,irresistible in its first uprising, is still not able tocope with military experience, and the mechanicalperseverance of military tactics, in a long we find that the outbreaks of an indignantpeople, terrible in their first manifestations againsttyranny, are usually quelled by the slow-moving, butponderous and effective blows of regular troops;and thus it would have been in this country, if thevirtues of patience and endurance had not succeededthe ardour of the first resistance. The coolness and far-seeing wisdom of the leadersin the great cause in which the colonies were em-barked, provided for the difficulties which we havenoted;
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1840, booksubjectlafayet, bookyear1847
