The Marquis Read online

  THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF

  Copyright © 2014 by Laura Auricchio

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto, Penguin Random House companies.

  www.aaknopf.com

  Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC.

  A portion of this work first appeared in The Yale Review (October 2014).

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Auricchio, Laura.

  The marquis : Lafayette reconsidered / Laura Auricchio. —First Edition.

  pages cm

  Includes bibliographical references.

  ISBN 978-0-307-26755-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-385-35324-3 (eBook)

  1. Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, 1757–1834.

  2. Generals—France—Biography. 3. Statesmen—France—Biography. 4. Generals—United States—Biography. 5. France. Armée—Biography. 6. United States—History—Revolution, 1775–1783—Participation, French. 7. United States—History—Revolution, 1775–1783—Biography. I. Title.

  DC146.L2A87 2014

  944.04092—dc23 [B]

  2013046386

  Front-of-jacket image: Marquis de Lafayette, 18th c. etching. Musée Franco-Américain du Château de Blérancourt, France © RMN–Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY

  Back-of-jacket image: Marquis de Lafayette, c. 1781–85, by Francesco Giuseppe Casanova © Collection of the New-York Historical Society, USA / Bridgeman Images

  Jacket design by Stephanie Ross

  First Edition

  v3.1

  For everyone who made it possible

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Map

  List of Illustrations

  Introduction

  PART ONE: FROM PROVINCE TO PARIS

  Chapter 1. Family Pride

  Chapter 2. The Outsider

  Chapter 3. Les Insurgents

  PART TWO: AMERICAN PATRIOT

  Chapter 4. First Impressions

  Chapter 5. Disenchantment

  Chapter 6. Alliances

  Chapter 7. Homecomings

  Chapter 8. Honor

  Chapter 9. 1784

  Chapter 10. An “American” Nobleman in Paris

  PART THREE: FRENCH REFORMER

  Chapter 11. A Political Education

  Chapter 12. Rights of Man

  Chapter 13. A Storybook Hero

  Chapter 14. “I Reign in Paris”

  Chapter 15. Triumph

  Chapter 16. Unflattering Portraits

  Chapter 17. Downfalls

  PART FOUR: BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

  Chapter 18. Exile

  Chapter 19. Homages

  Chapter 20. Picpus

  Author’s Note

  Acknowledgments

  Notes

  Bibliography

  Index

  Other Books by This Author

  Map of France highlighting Paris, Versailles, Chavaniac, and La Grange. (illustration credit col1.1)

  ILLUSTRATIONS

  col1.1 Claude-Auguste Berey (1651–1732). Engraver. Map of France indicating the triangles that served to determine the Meridian of Paris. 23.5 × 25 cm. Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département Cartes et Plans, GE DD-2987(778). (Courtesy Bibliothèque Nationale de France)

  itr.1 Jean-Antoine Houdon (1748–1828). Bust of the Marquis de Lafayette (1757–1834). 1790. Marble, h. 83 cm. MV 1573. Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles, France. Photo: Jacques l’Hoir / Jean Popovitch. (© RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  itr.2 The French Nation Helped by Mr de la Fayette Stops the Despotism and Abuses of the Feudal King Who Oppresses His People. 1791. Etching. 0.270m × 0.185m. From: Collection de Vinck. Un siècle d’histoire de France par l’estampe, 1770–1870, vol. 11 (pièces 1763–1933), Ancien Régime et Révolution. De Vinck, 1791. Vers 1789–1792. Bibliothèque Nationale de France. (© BnF, dist. RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  itr.1 La Rhétorique des putains ou la fameuse maquerelle, vol. 2. Engraving opp. P. 64. ENFER-62 / 88-C-135959. (Courtesy Bibliothèque Nationale de France)

  1.1 Clara Greenleaf Perry (1871–1960). L’ancienne approche du Ch. de Chavaniac-Lafayette Haute Loire. Print on gray paper mounted on white wove paper: lithograph, black ink; plate 51.3 × 35.4 cm, sheet 53.7 × 37.5 cm, 65.8 × 49.8 cm (all four edges deckled). The Boston Athenaeum, Prints and Photographs Dept., C USL Per.c.(no.11). (© Boston Athenaeum)

  1.2 Hyena, Ferocious Animal That Ravaged the Gévaudan from 1764 Until It Was Sent to the Court. Engraving. From: Collection Michel Hennin. Estampes relatives à l’histoire de France. Tome 105, Pièces 9111–9208, période: 1762–1764. Hennin, 9190. Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département Estampes et Photographie, RESERVE QB-201 (105)-FOL. (Courtesy Bibliothèque Nationale de France)

  1.3 Jacques Rigaud (1681–1754). View of the Palace and Gardens of Luxembourg. c. 1730. Print, 0.230 m. × 0.440 m. Photo: Franck Raux. Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles, France. (© RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  4.1 Johann Martin Will (1727–1806). Zehn Karten und Ansichten den Schlachtfelden des amerikanischen Unabhängigkeitskreiges in den Staaten Pennsylvanien und New York. Augsburg, Germany?: s.n., 1777. Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division. (Courtesy Library of Congress)

  6.1 George W. Boynton. Retreat of the Marquis de Lafayette from Barren Hill, May 20th, 1778. [1834?]. The Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.

  6.2 Major General Charles Lee (1731–1782). B. Rashbrooke (dates unknown) delin, Alexander Hay Ritchie (1822–1895) sculp. Mixed media. Undated. Library of Congress.

  7.1 Le Général Washington, ne quid detrimenti capiat res publica … (full-length portrait in front of his tent, with horse and groom in background); engraving by Noël Le Mire after painting by J. B. Le Paon, Hart no. 31C; 16 ⅝ by 12¾ in., neg. 51749. 75910T. Collection of the New-York Historical Society.

  8.1 An emerald and gold medal, commissioned by George Washington and presented to Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette in 1824, is shown in Boston, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007. The medal, known as the Washington-Lafayette Cincinnati Medal, and currently in the possession of Lafayette’s great-great-great-grandson Arnaud Meunier du Houssoy, will be put up for auction next week. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

  9.1 Anonymous, eighteenth century. View of the Château of Versailles with the chapel showing the first experiment in Versailles of a hot air balloon on September 19, 1783. Colored engraving. 24220LR. Louvre (Museum), Paris, France. Photo: Michèle Bellot. (© RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  9.2 Anonymous, eighteenth century. Caricature of Mesmer’s tub in Paris (influence of magnetism). From: Collection Michel Hennin. Prints Related to the History of France, vol. 115, items 9990–10091, period: 1784–1785. Hennin 10025, ca. 1784–1785. RESERVE-FOL-QB-201 (115). (© BnF, Dist. RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  9.3 Thomas Prichard Rossiter (1818–1871) and Louis Rémy Mignot (1831–1870). Washington and Lafayette at Mount Vernon, 1784 (The Home of Washington After the War). 1859. Oil on canvas, 87 × 146½ in. (221 × 372.1 cm). Bequest of William Nelson, 1905 (05.35). (Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, NY)

  9.4 Marie-Joseph-Yves-Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette at Yorktown. 1782. The defeat of the British at Yorktown. Engraved by Noël Le Mire. 50 × 36.1 cm. LP85.66.1. Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles, France. (©
RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  9.5 John Blannerhassett Martin. Lafayette’s testimonial to James Armistead Lafayette. 1824. Broadside. Marquis de Lafayette Collections, David Bishop Skillman Library, Lafayette College.

  10.1 Copyright 2000, Kyoto University Library.

  10.2 Copyright 2000, Kyoto University Library.

  10.3 Jean Marot. Elevation of the façade of the Hotel Pussort, garden side, seventeenth century. (© Beaux-Arts de Paris, Dist. RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  10.4 Hôtel Turgot. Photo: Laura Auricchio.

  10.5 Élisabeth Vigée-LeBrun. Portrait of Diane-Adélaïde de Damas d’Antiguy, Comtesse de Simiane. 1783. Oil on canvas. Private collection.

  11.1 Meeting of the Assembly of Notables reunited by Louis XVI at Versailles, February 22, 1787. Preparatory drawing for the engraving exhibited in 1793 (cf. invgravures885). Black ink on paper, 20.4 × 34.2 cm. RF3735; INVDessins692; MV9105. Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, Versailles, France. Photo: Franck Raux. (© RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  11.2 Anonymous, eighteenth century. Assemblée de notables (Assembly of Notables—“The Court’s Buffet”), February 22, 1787. Caricature. QB-1 (1787–02–22)-FOL M 098186. Bibliothéque Nationale de France (BnF), Paris, France. (© BnF, Dist. RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  12.3 Anonymous, eighteenth century. L’accomplissement du voeu de la nation (Fulfillment of the vow of the nation—view of the procession of the opening of the Estates-General upon leaving Notre-Dame on their way to St. Louis, seen from the Place Dauphine at Versailles, May 4, 1789). From: Collection Michel Hennin. Prints Related to the History of France, vol. 117, items 10184–10277, period: 1788–1789. Collection de Vinck. Un siècle d’histoire de France par l’estampe, 1770–1870, vol. 9 (pièces 1423–1470), Ancien Régime et Révolution. Hennin 10228, De Vinck 1426. RESERVE-FOL-QB-370 (9)-FT4. (© BnF, Dist. RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  12.4 Anonymous, eighteenth century. Costume de cérémonie des députés des Trois Ordres. (Ceremonial costumes of the delegates of the three estates). Engraving with watercolor. 21.9 × 28.2 cm. nvgravures1778. (© RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  13.1 Charles Marville (1816–c. 1879). Hôtel de Ville, Paris. FOL-VE-1125. (© BnF, Dist. RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  14.1 Jean-Louis Prieur the Younger (1759–1795). Intendant Bertier Sauvigny (1737–1789), recognizes the head of Foulon while being led to execution, July 23, 1789. Black chalk, black ink, blacklead, with brush and pen on paper, 0.178 m. × 0.239 m. Musée de la Ville de Paris, Musée Carnavalet, Paris, France. Photo: Jean-Gilles Berizzi. (© RMN-Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  14.2 The French Nation Helped by Mr de la Fayette Stops the Despotism and Abuses of the Feudal King Who Oppresses His People. 1791. Etching. 0.270 m × 0.185 m. From: Collection de Vinck. Un siècle d’histoire de France par l’estampe, 1770–1870, vol. 11 (pièces 1763–1933), Ancien Régime et Révolution. De Vinck, 1791. Vers 1789–1792. Bibliothèque Nationale de France. (© BnF, dist. RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  15.1 General Federation of the French on the Champ de Mars, July 14, 1790. Print, 0.353 m. × 0.506 m. Musée de l’Armée, Paris, France. Photo: Tony Querrec. (© RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  15.2 Anonymous, eighteenth century. Le roi, piochant au Champ de Mars (the King digging with a pick-axe on the Champ de Mars). From: Collection Michel Hennin. Prints Related to the History of France, vol. 122, items 10714–10801, period: 1790. Collection de Vinck. Un siècle d’histoire de France par l’estampe, 1770–1870, vol. 22 (pièces 3719–3893), Ancien Régime et Révolution. Hennin 10744, De Vinck 3723. RESERVE-FOL-QB-201 (122). Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF), Paris, France. (© BnF, Dist. RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  15.3 France: 1790. Anonymous. Plate in the feast of the Federation. Earthenware. Paris. Musée Carnavalet. (© Françoise Cochennec / Musée Carnavalet / Roger-Viollet / The Image Works)

  15.4 Anonymous, eighteenth century. The Oath of Lafayette at the Fête de la Fédération, French. Oil on canvas. Musée Carnavalet, Paris. (© RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  16.1 My Constitution. c. 1790. Etching. 82 × 58 cm. Collection de Vinck. Un siècle d’histoire de France par l’estampe, 1770–1870, vol. 7 (pièces 1046–1231), Ancien Régime et Révolution. RESERVE QB-370 (7)-FT 4. (Courtesy Bibliothèque Nationale de France)

  16.2 La Rhétorique des putains ou la fameuse maquerelle, vol. 2. Engraving opp. P. 64. ENFER-62 / 88-C-135959. (Courtesy Bibliothèque Nationale de France)

  16.3 The Austrian Hen. 1791–1792. Etching on paper, hand-colored in watercolor and printed in brown ink on the recto. 274 × 219 mm. Accession number: 4232.1.12.24. (© Waddesdon, The Rothschild Collection [The National Trust])

  16.4 Bronze phallic wind chime (tintinnabulum). Roman. 1st century A.D. Length: 13.500 cm. Sir William Temple Bequest. GR 1856.12-26.1086. The British Museum. (© The Trustees of the British Museum. All rights reserved.)

  16.5 Frontispiece to The Patriotic Brothel, founded by the queen of the French, for the pleasure of the deputies to the new legislature; dedicatory epistle from Her Majesty to these new Lycurguses. Collection: Les Archives de la Révolution Française; 6.2.1134. Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Lb39–10258. (Courtesy Bibliothèque Nationale de France)

  16.6 Le sans tort. Caricature likening Lafayette to a centaur. c. 1791. Arthur H. and Mary Marden Dean Lafayette Collection, 1520–1849. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

  17.1 Assignat de cent livres, c. 1791 (forgery, carrying the stamp of Duperey). From: Collection de Vinck. Un siècle d’histoire de France par l’estampe, 1770–1870, vol. 19 (pièces 3107–3418), Ancien Régime et Révolution. De Vinck 3154. RESERVE QB-370 (19)-FT4. (© BnF, Dist. RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  17.2 Anonymous, eighteenth century. The King Eating Pigs’ Feet at Sainte-Menehould, the Postmaster Comes Across an Assignat and Recognizes the King. Engraving. 1791. From: Collection de Vinck. Un siècle d’histoire de France par l’estampe, 1770–1870, vol. 23 (pièces 3894–4078), Ancien Régime et Révolution. De Vinck 3944. RESERVE-FOL-QB-370 (23)-FT4. (© BnF, Dist. RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  17.3 Anonymous, eighteenth century. Malheureuse journée du 17 juillet 1791 (Unfortunate Day of July 17, 1791): men, women, and children massacred on the altar of the nation at the Champ de la Fédération. From: Collection Michel Hennin. Prints Related to the History of France, vol. 125, items 10979–11059, period: 1791. Collection de Vinck. Un siècle d’histoire de France par l’estampe, 1770–1870, vol. 23 (pièces 3894–4078), Ancien Régime et Révolution. Hennin 11023, De Vinck 4072. RESERVE-FOL-QB-201 (125). (© BnF, Dist. RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  17.4 Anonymous, eighteenth century. The Day of July 17, 1791: Songez qu’il faudra courage pour tué ses gens là. From: Collection Michel Hennin. Prints Related to the History of France, vol. 125, items 10979–11059, period: 1791. Collection de Vinck. Un siècle d’histoire de France par l’estampe, 1770–1870, vol. 23 (pièces 3894–4078), Ancien Régime et Révolution. Hennin 11027, De Vinck 4076. RESERVE-FOL-QB-201 (125). (© BnF, Dist. RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  17.5 Jean-Pierre-Louis-Laurent Houël (1735–1813). The Storming of the Bastille, July 14, 1789, watercolor. 37.8 × 50.5 cm. Ville de Paris, Musée Carnavalet. Photo: Bulloz. (© RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  17.6 April 15, 1792: Festival of Liberty honoring the release of forty Châteauvieux soldiers from the galleys of Brest. Etching. 9.5 × 15 cm. Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département Estampes et Photographie. RESERVE QB-370(20)-FT4. De Vinck, 3570. (Courtesy Bibliothèque Nationale de France)

  18.1 Pierre-François Palloy (1754–1835). Scale model of the Bastille (cut in a stone of the fortress). Paris: Musée Carnavalet. Photo: Marie-Laure Berthier. (© Musée Carnavalet / Roger-Viollet / The Image Works)

  18.2 Eberhard Siegfried Henne (1759–1828) after: Lafayette Visited
in Prison by His Wife and Two Daughters. From: Captivité de Lafayette. Héroïde, avec figures et notes historiques … sur les illustres prisonniers d’Olmutz, en Moravie. Drawing by P. C. d’Agrain. YE4871. (© BnF, Dist. RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  19.1 Isidore Laurent Deroy. La Grange East View, lithograph, c. 1825, after painting by Alvan Fisher. Marquis de Lafayette Collections, David Bishop Skillman Library, Lafayette College.

  19.2 Gustave William Lemaire, twentieth century. Library of the Château de La Grange-Bléneau à Courpalay, 1900–1920. Photograph. (© RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  19.3 Plate: La Grange, the Residence of the Marquis de Lafayette; Enoch Wood and Sons, active 1818–1846; 1815–1840; earthenware; overall: ⅞ × 10⅛ in. (2.2 × 25.7 cm). 1961.85. Collection of the New-York Historical Society.

  19.4 Brisé fan, depicting General Lafayette, c. 1824; wood, paper, ribbon. Closed: 1 × 11.1 in. 1921.14. Gift of Mr. A. Gordon Norrie, in the name of Eloise Lawrence Breese. Collection of the New-York Historical Society.

  19.5 Washington Hall. Reminiscences of an Octogenarian of the City of New York, 1816–1860 (New York: Harper, 1897). Chas H. (Charles Haynes) Haswell (1809–1907), author. The Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.

  19.6 Louise-Adéone Drölling (Madame Joubert, 1797-?). Portrait of General Lafayette in the Park of the Château de La Grange. 1830. Oil on canvas. 55 cm high. Inv. 01849; Cc286.18. Musée de l’Armée, Paris, France. (© Musée de l’Armée / dist. RMN–Grand Palais / Art Resource, NY)

  20.1 Honoré Daumier (French, Marseilles 1808–1879 Valmondois). Rue Transnonain, le 15 Avril 1834. Printer: Delaunois (French, active Paris). August–September 1834. Lithograph. Dimensions: image: 11¼ × 17⅜ in. (28.6 × 44.1 cm) sheet: 145/16 × 2111/16 in. (36.4 × 55.1 cm). Rogers Fund, 1920. Accession Number: 20.23. (Image copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, NY)