Program

Lafayette Trail

Subject

Event, People, Site

Location

RFRH+J6 Suffolk, VA, USA

Lat/Long

36.841578073534, -76.521991954647

Grant Recipient

The Lafayette Trail, Inc.

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834), was a French nobleman and captain in the French Dragoons. In April 1777, Lafayette sailed on the Victoire, a ship built with his personal funds, for North America to serve as a military leader in the American Revolution, despite a royal decree prohibiting French officers from serving. Shortly after his arrival, the Continental Congress commissioned him as a major general serving under George Washington.  Wounded during the Battle of Brandywine, Lafayette managed to organize a successful Patriot retreat. Early in 1779, he returned to France to negotiate an increase in support from the French government, securing thousands of French troops to fight for the American cause. As one of three division commanders, Lafayette played a pivotal role in the 1781 Battle of Yorktown. He succeeded in containing Lord Cornwallis’s men, allowing time for additional French and American forces to arrive and lay siege to the British troops, forcing Cornwallis to surrender and ensuring American victory.

In March of 1781, much of the Continental Army was hunting for the traitor, Benedict Arnold. In mid-March, Lafayette was sent south from the Elk River in Maryland with a detachment of troops to contribute to the search. He reached Annapolis, Maryland with them, before being forced to continue south on his own due to a large number of enemy vessels in the Chesapeake Bay. Lafayette later recalled that Arnold was “ravaging the country” from his command at Portsmouth, and that Washington had sent him south to help stop it in his 1828 interview with Jared Sparks. He also recalled leaving his troops at Annapolis and sailing further south alone in an open rowboat, keeping close to the shore.

On March 15^th, he reported to General Washington that he had reached York, Virginia where Baron von Steuben was in command of the local militia. He reported another traitor had been caught, General Gregory. He also reported that Benedict Arnold and his troops were known to be encamped in the Portsmouth, Virginia area and only held there by the threat of the imminent arrival of the French fleet. He expressed his disappointment that the fleet had not already arrived to prevent Arnold’s escape to Britain. Lafayette wrote that he was anxious to continue south from York to scout for Arnold, but Baron von Steuben was not allowing him to go, instead wishing Lafayette to take command of York. Lafayette was unwilling to do this as he felt it would be improper until the rest of his detachment arrived, and he also thought the search for Arnold was more pressing.

Two days later, on March 17^th, Lafayette wrote to Thomas Jefferson from Williamsburg, VA, asking for more resources to be sent and reporting on the need for oxen to pull artillery. He then wrote another letter to Thomas Jefferson on March 20^th, this time from the militia camp at Sleepy Hole. In it, he reported that he first went to Suffolk, where he discovered General Muhlenberg had already left for the Sleepy Hole camp to scout for Arnold. He also reported that the camp had no ammunition, and despite that he was in a scuffle with British troops, losing one soldier, and two more injured. He reported that the lack of ammunition prevented further searching for Arnold.

Lafayette arrived at the Sleepy Hole camp sometime between the 17^th and 19^th of March and aided in searches of the area for Benedict Arnold while waiting for the French fleet to arrive. On March 23^rd, Lafayette had returned to Williamsburg and wrote another report on the entire trip for General Washington. Following his reconnaissance mission in the Suffolk and Portsmouth area, he continued to aid the fight against Benedict Arnold in Virginia.