Page 73

1886

confided their names to any one. His secret
was buried with him. It is singular, however,
that after the Revolution some of those
patriotic correspondents did not disclose the
part they had taken in this secret work.
Silas Deane's letters speak of De Kalb as a
stranger just presented and recommended to
him, and there is nothing to show that a previous
acquaintance existed; but there must
have been other Americans of note, especially
in Boston, who knew who this stranger was.

DE KALB AND LAFAYETTE.

The mistake has generally been made that
De Kalb was brought over by Lafayette; that
he formed part of the latter's suite. Nothing
could be farther from the truth. The long-
wished-for rapture between England and her
colonies having come at last, the French
ministry was eager to encourage and assist
the revolutionists provided this could be done
by occult means so as not to give England
grounds of compliant, for France was not
ready for war. Besides, the young King,
Louis XVI, was peacefully inclined, and his
consent was obtained only when it was represented
to him that if England succeeded in
too easily quelling the rebellion of her
American subjects, she would, it was most
likely, turn her forces against the French and
Spanish possessions. It was decided to send
an expedition openly destined to reinforce
St. Domingo and other colonies. De Kalb,
strongly recommended by the Broglies, received
his commission as brigadier-general.
He concluded, however, to await the arrival
of the American agent, Silas Deane. His first
interview with Deane took place on the 5th
of November, 1776. From the first Deane was
struck with the importance of securing the
services of so capable and highly recommended
an officer. He wrote on the very
next day to his government, asking for instructions.
He said of De Kalb: "This gentleman
has an independent fortune and a certain
prospect of advance here; but being
a zealous friend to liberty, civil and religious,
he is actuated by the most independent
and generous principles in the offer he
makes of his services to the States of
America." The pressure of circumstances
did not permit Deane to await further instructions,
however, and on the 1st of December,
1776, he signed an agreement with
De Kalb, accepting the services of the latter
and fifteen other French officers. De Kalb
was to receive a commission of major-general,
to date from the 7th of November, 1776.
In the meantime the Count De Broglie recommended
to De Kalb's care and counsel a young
kinsman of his, the Marquis de Lafayette,
who, filled with enthusiasm and the love of
glory, wished to place his maiden sword at
the service of American independence.
The rank, family connections and wealth
of this young man made him a most
valuable recruit. De Kalb saw at once all
the advantages that would result to the
American cause from his accession, and lost
no time in impressing Deane with these advantages.
The result was another agreement
signed with the young Marquis and De Kalb,
acting in their own behalf and that of ten
others. Lafayette was granted the rank of
major-general, to date from the 7th of December,
1776, while the date of De Kalb's
commission, as in the former document, was
given as the 7th of November. The Baron's
seniority, therefore, was admitted beyond
doubt. He was the leader of the expedition,
which started in the month of
April following, on a vessel purchased
by Lafayette. The latter never presumed to
outrank De Kalb, whose military experience
and character he held in high esteem.
When Congress, after refusing to recognize
the appointments pledged by Silas Deane,
made an exception in favor of Lafayette, the
gallant young man was loath to consent to
what he considered an act of injustice towards
his older companion's superior claim.
De Kalb urged and persuaded him to accept.
In this, as in other circumstances, he showed
himself a disinterested mentor and friend,
such as Broglie's young kinsman would implicitly
trust.

THE FRENCH OFFICERS IN AMERICA.

The French officers whose services had
been engaged by Silas Deane were too numerous,
and too many of them had been promised
positions of a high grade. American
affairs were little understood in Europe.
The friends of the cause in France looked
upon the revolution as a popular uprising,
lacking organization, whose leaders were
without military experience, and consequently
doomed to defeat unless assisted by
the superior wisdom of European officers.
It was even thought that the supreme command
should be vested in some tried soldier,
possessing princely rank as well as military
renown, and a complete plan for the organization
of the American army had been prepared.
De Kalb was intrusted with the task
of impressing upon Congress the necessity
of adopting these suggestions. The old
soldier, however, soon saw the futulity
of these views; he never mentioned the
famous plan to his American friends. From
his previous knowledge of the temper of the
colonists he probably had opinions of his own
on this question very different from those
which inspired the concocting of such a
document. Failing to make good his claims
De Kalb had made up his mind to return to
France with the other rejected officers, and
had actually started, going by the way of
Bethlehem to pay a visit to his Moravian
countrymen, when he was overtaken by a
messenger of Congress, who brought him the
news of his appointment as a major-general
in the service of the United States. His
commission was dated from the 31st of July,
1776, the day of Lafayette's appointment.
Congress, willing to do an act of justice, even
offered to antedate his commission to the
7th of November, 1776, confirming the appointment
made by Deane, but De Kalb declined.
While unwilling to be outranked by
his younger companion, he had no wish to
outrank him.

DE KALB JOINS THE CONTINENTALS.

Here commences De Kalb's career as a
soldier of the revolution. It was a short and
not a brilliant career, for the opportunities
failed him to acquire distinction on the field
of battle. When the opportunity did come
he rose to the height of a hero, winning the
admiration of friends and foes. He fell, covered
with wounds, in a desperate effort to
retrieve the mistakes of another, his superior
in command, his inferior in sound judgment
and military genius, and in the manner of his
death showed what he might have done had
circumstances served him or had death
spared him to see the cause of liberty triumphant.
Yet his services, if they did not draw
upon him the admiring eyes of the country,
were not less great, and Washington,
who prized modest usefulness
as highly as the brilliant achievements
of heedless bravery, was not long to
discover the merit of this consummate soldier.
He held him in high esteem as one who
could be trusted implicitly in those trying
circumstances when fortitude, a cool judgment
and cautious prudence, backed by an
indomitable courage, are required to turn
defeat into victory, or to rob the enemy's
triumph of its expected fruits. Immediately
after receiving his commission, De Kalb
joined the army then encamped near the
battle-field of Germantown. Unfortunately
for his hopes of immediate active service, all
the divisions of the army had their chiefs,
and he could not get a command. In the
next month, November, he was sent with
Generals Knox and St. Clair by Washington
to decide on the expediency of retaining
possession of Fort Mercer, at Red
Bank, on the Jersey shore. This commission
decided in the affirmative, the post was
strengthened and the whole command entrusted
to Gen. Greene. During the same
month Gen. De Kalb was a member of the
council of general officers called upon to determine
whether the city of Philadelphia,
then occupied by the English, could be successfully
attacked or beleaguered. The Baron
was one of the eleven officers who saw the
impracticability of any such attempt with
the inferior forces at command. As only four
of the members were in favor of the project,
it was abandoned.

GIVEN A COMMAND.

Soon after this Washington placed De Kalb
in command of a division formed of two
brigades of New England troops. There was