Page 74

1886

not much chance of active operations, however,
for the army ere long was to go into
winter quarters at Valley Forge. Amidst the
hardships of that memorable winter he preserved
his equanimity, bearing deprivations
and sufferings uncomplainingly. General
Henry Lee, in his memoirs of the war, says
of him: "He was sober, drinking water only;
abstemious to excess; living on bread, sometimes
with beef soup, at other times with
cold beef; industrious, it being his constant
habit to rise at five in the morning, light his
candle, devote himself to writing, which was
never intermitted during the day but when
interrupted by his short meals or by attention
to his official duty; and profoundly
secret. He wrote in hieroglyphics, not
upon sheets of paper, as is customary in
camps, but in large folio books, which were
carefully preserved, waiting to be transmitted
to his unknown correspondent whenever
a safe opportunity might offer." We have
seen what that cipher was. De Kalb continued
to report to De Broglie as on a former
occasion he had reported to De Choiseul; he
also wrote regularly to his wife, who had the
key to his cipher. These letters, or rather
these journals, reached safely their destination.
The reports are on file in the French
archives; the letters to his wife are in the
possession of the Vicomtesse d'Alzac. Both
are extensively quoted by the historian Kapp.
De Kalb, so silent and uncomplaining in camp,
wrote very minute and pathetic descriptions
of the sufferings of the Americans; he
described military operations, and commented
freely on men and things.

A CROP OF COLONELS.

We are so accustomed to think of our revolutionary
sires as heroes without blemish
that the description of their little weaknesses
strikes us as irreverent, unless, indeed,
we take a philosophic view of mankind and
we possess the sense of humor that reveals
the laughable side of the heroic. Who can
fail to recognize a picture from life, true in
our day as it was a hundred years ago, in the
Baron's humorous remarks about the ubiquitous
colonel: "The very numerous assistant
quartermasters are for the most part
men of no military education whatever, in
many cases ordinary hucksters, but always
colonels. The same rank is held by the
contractors-general and their agents. It is safe
to accost every man as a colonel who talks to
me with familiarity; the officers of a lower
grade are invariably more modest. In a word,
the army teems with colonels." His criticism
was not confined to the Americans. He
speaks with feeling of the continual jealousies
and bickerings among the French officers,
which caused much annoyance. "Lafayette,"
he writes, "is the sole exception. I
always meet him with the same cordiality
and the same pleasure. He is an excellent
young man, and we are good friends. It were
to be wished that all the Frenchmen who
serve here were as reasonable as he and I.
Lafayette is much liked. He is on the best
of terms with Washington. Both of them have
every reason to be satisfied with me also."

CRITICISM OF WASHINGTON.

His criticisms on the military operations
and on the want of organization in the army,
while correct in the main, were not altogether
just. An old soldier, brought up
among the trained armies of Europe and accustomed
to maneuvre in the thickly settled
country of the enemy, where resources of all
kinds were abundant, he did not fully comprehend
the task assumed by the leaders of
the revolution and the necessities of a service
altogether voluntary and consequently
fraught with irregularity. Everything had
to be created; everything had to be organized
in the face of a wary foe. There
were no reserved forces or supplies to repair
a disaster. Nothing but the indomitable
pluck of the Americans saved them from
destruction. They were taught victory
through defeat. De Kalb's usually correct
judgment failed at first to read Washington's
true character. In September, 1777, he wrote
to Broglie: "I have no yet told you anything
of the character of General Washington.
He is the most amiable, kind-hearted
and upright of men; but as a general he is
too slow, too indolent, and too weak.

Besides, he has a tinge of vanity in his composition,
and overestimates himself. In my
opinion, whatever success he may have will
be owing to good luck and to the blunders of
his adversaries rather than to his abilities.
I may even say that he does not know how
to improve upon the grossest blunders of the
enemy. He has not yet overcome his old
prejudice against the French." If we remember
that the Father of his Country had
not, at that time, compelled the admiration
of even his foes, that he had
rivals whom many thought superior to him,
we will not wonder at this harsh judgment
from a foreigner. It was not long, however,
before De Kalb found out his mistake, and in
his subsequent letters he manifests readily
his change of opinion. Compare the paragraph
quoted with this other from a letter to
President Henry Laurens, dated January 7,
1778, at Valley Forge: "He (Washington) did
and does more every day than could be expected
from any general in the world in the
same circumstances, and I think him the
only proper person, (nobody actually being
or serving in America excepted,) by his
natural and acquired capacity, his bravery,
good sense, uprightness and honesty, to keep
up the spirits of the army and people, and
I look upon him as the sole defender of his
country's cause."

LAFAYETTE'S FRIENDSHIP.

In February, 1778, a plan for an invasion of
Canada was, without the sanction of Washington,
adopted by Congress at the suggestion
of Gen. Gates. Lafayette and Conway were
designated to lead the expedition. The secret
object of this choice was to detach the young
Marquis from Washington's party, by giving
him an opportunity to distinguish himself
under circumstances especially gratifying to
his pride as a Frenchman. Conway, Gates's
right henchman, would be second in command,
and thereby have certain chances of
advancement. Lafayette's loyal disposition
defeated the object of the plotters;
he consulted Washington, in the first place,
and, with the latter's sanction, in his letter of
acceptance to Congress he stipulated that
Major-General De Kalb, and not Conway,
should be his colleague. "I think very firmly,"
said he in conclusion, "that for the good of
the service and the success of the enterprise,
it is of the highest importance and of an absolute
necessity," Congress granted the request.
Lafayette and De Kalb proceeded to
Albany, where they had been preceded by
Conway. Here they found that the hastily-
formed project was impracticable; neither
adequate forces nor sufficient resources were
procurable. They were ordered to return.

IN BAD LUCK.

Ill-luck seemed to pursue the gallant old
soldier, whose military career in Europe had
been so successful. In May, 1778, he was
seized with a violent fever. His life, for a
time, was despaired of, and not until the
middle of July was he able to leave his room.
He took no part, therefore, in the evacuation
of the camp at Valley Forge, in the entry of
the American army into Philadelphia, or in
Washington's march through New Jersey.
As soon as he was able to travel he joined his
command at White Plains, where he remained
throughout the month of August;
thence his division was sent to Fishkill. This
division, since September 7, 1778, consisted
of the Maryland troops, including
the Delaware Battalion. In 1779 he was
in the Highlands with Washington, and he is
mentioned as taking part in a council of
war, "advising with Generals Putnam, Smallwood,
Muhlenberg and Gist what positions
their troops should defend in case the British
ventured an attack in force after their
humiliation at Stony Point." De Kalb, whose
division was represented in the assault on
Stony Point, was complimented by Washington
for the valor and good conduct of his
men. In a letter to his wife, relating the
circumstance, he remarks: "It is odd that in
the two years I have been in service here,
constantly with the army, the troops under
my command—and I have always had very
strong divisions—have not taken part in any
battle or engagement, and that I myself, so
to speak, have no seen a gun go off."