#washingtons aides

[suriantei]

pick a john :)

[pub-lius]

RAAHHH AMERICA (lafayette pt.3)

welcome back to this i guess. i can guarantee you the whole revolution will take several posts because this is by far the longest part of my notes (obviously) soooo there will still be quite a few more of these posts for @thereallvrb0y because i still have Hamilton to do after this! that will be fun im excited. so anyway, if you missed pt. 2, here you go, and lets get right into it

Arrival in America and Becoming a Major General

Lafayette and his posse landed on the shore of North Island off the coast of South Carolina, and they were... lost! They couldn't find anyone, so they rowed further inland to try to find any sign of civilization, and they found enslaved black men fishing for oysters, and they brought them back to the plantation house.

From there, they traveled to Philadelphia. There's a common theme throughout the Frenchmen's accounts: everyone fucking loved Lafayette. Like literally everyone was so happy to see him, but literally hated the other French guys with him, so everyone else was really uncomfortable but Lafayette saw nothing wrong with what was going on.

The reason why the Americans were so hostile to the other Frenchmen was because of Silas Deane. I mentioned in pt. 2 that Deane did not do any research into whether or not Lafayette had qualifications, and he did that with every other French officer he sent over. and he sent. a lot. There was one particular incident where he sent some French engineers that ended up being completely incompetent, and when the public (and Washington's staff) heard about that, they were like "okay, we're done with the French"

But Lafayette was different because, again, he was so fucking rich. Everyone saw him as a symbol of French alliance, and a sign of hope that maybe, with foreign assistance, they could win the war. Of course, they didn't know Lafayette was there illegally, but yk. it was something.

By the way, literally everything went wrong on every journey this group went on. From North Island to Charleston saw several of the party getting sick, losing horses, risk of being mugged, and having to walk BAREFOOT through the woods at one point.

Then, on the 650 mile trip from Charleston to Philadelphia, it got. worse. They started out with 12 officers and servants in open carriages. The carriages broke after four days, they had to leave behind their luggage, and continue on horseback. Over the next 10 days, their horses collapsed, they got sick again, and everything continued to go horribly wrong.

“I started out brilliantly by carriage… we are all on horseback, after having broken the carriage, in my usual laudable fashion, and I hope to write to you in a few days that we have arrived on foot.” -Lafayette to Adrienne

The trip began on June 26, 1777, and they arrived in Philadelphia on July 27. The principal driving force for them to not give up and turn back was how enthusiastic, optimistic, and determined Lafayette was. The entire time they were literally passing out from exhaustion and exposure, Lafayette was having a grand ole time. He wasn't immune to all the horrible shit they were experiencing, he just acted like he was. He was just. so happy to be there.

So, they arrived in Philadelphia, the current seat of the Continental Congress. And they thought "oh, okay, we'll just go to the president, show him our papers, and we'll be given a command! right?"

Wrong.

They arrived at John Hancock's house, but he was like "what the fuck are these homeless french dudes doing at my house dressed in rags, get them out and take them to Robert Morris" (bc they had to get rid of their luggage and it was the summer they were kinda wearing the least amount as possible and were covered in filth)

Also btw the reason Hancock referred them to Morris was bc Morris was a member of the Committee of Congress for Secret Correspondence, and so he handled Deane's illegal bullshit, one of which was Lafayette being there

So, the French Gang (tm) went to Independence Hall to meet Morris, but didn't even get inside (James Lovell was also there because he spoke French). Lovell explained what happened with the engineers, basically telling them "yeah sooo we don't really trust French people anymore whoops"

The French Gang was like "what ze fuck" and they were like "okay goodnight!" so they went back to their accommodations, but the next day Lovell and WILLIAM FUCKING DUER showed up and were like "uhhhh hey guys so we actually made a mistake, but if you're willing to negotiate, Mr. Marquis de Lafayette, you could be a major general!" And Lafayette didn't question the sudden change, and went into negotiations.

By the way, the reason they changed their minds overnight was PROBABLY because Benjamin Franklin's letter of recommendation had arrived telling them "that Lafayette guy is RICH. AS. FUCK. do whatever he wants that you realistically can because he is literally so rich, you want this guy to like you." They literally just wanted an in with Versailles.

Alsooo this really only benefitted Lafayette, like Congress didn't make any offers to Lafayette's comrades, so most of them went back to France. so. that kinda sucks.

George Washington and His Staff

General George Washington was um. in a rough spot. Stationed in Chester, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, he had a lot on his hand, namely worrying about whether or not the British were going to try to attack the seat of Congress. This is the pre-Laurens era for the aides de camp, so we got Alexander Hamilton, Tench Tilghman, Richard Kidder Meade, Robert Hanson Harrison, John Fitzgerald, Joseph Reed, Caleb Gibbs, and another guy that was so sick I can't even remember his name, for Washington's staff.

One big issue being faced by Washington's staff was the issue of French officers.

"We are already greatly embarrassed with the Frenchmen among us... It were to be wished that our agents in France, instead of courting them to come out, were instructed to give no encouragement but where they could not help it... Be assured, Sir, we shall never be able to satisfy them [The French]; and they can be of no use to us, at least for sometime. Their ignorance of our language, of the disposition of the people, the resources and difficiencies (sic) of the country, their own habits and tempers—all these are disqualifications that put it out of their power to be of any real use or service to us." -Alexander Hamilton to William Duer, May 6, 1777

These sentiments were shared by General Washington. I mean, Washington's staff had dealt with the French engineers problem, and so they definitely were under the impression that all the French guys being sent over from Deane's office were just underqualified noblemen who thought they were better than everyone else. They definitely thought this about Lafayette at first.

On the complete other extreme, Lafayette was amazed by Washington the first time they met at City Tavern in Philadelphia on July 31. He thought he was absolutely incredible and an amazing leader. Pretty soon, Lafayette integrated himself in Washington's office, which was actually on par with orders from Franklin who basically told Washington "this guy CANNOT die because he will be FINANCIALLY FUCKED if he does", so they put him in the safest possible place in the army.

And that lasted about a month, until the Battle of Brandywine in September 1777.

Active Military Service

Prior to Brandywine, British General Howe had somehow disappeared, until he arrived at the Head of Elk, Maryland in late July with 17,000 British and Hessian troops under his belt, making their way northeast towards Philadelphia.

Blocking the British troops from reaching Philadelphia, 10,500 Americans were positioned along Brandywine Creek, knowing the British would likely cross at Chadds Ford. For his protection, Lafayette was positioned at the rear with General Sullivan's division, which, they thought, would see the least amount of action.

The battle began by late morning, and it was very foggy out, which was always a recipe for disaster. Contrary to their expectations, they ended up facing only half the British troops at Chadds Ford, while Howe lead a second column further north, attacking the Americans at the rear, where Sullivan was stationed.

Everything quickly devolved into chaos as the Americans were taken by surprise, and couldn't really see clearly because of the fog. Lafayette was trying to rally the confused troops before he was shot in the left calf with a musketball. He attempted to continue fighting, but an unidentified aide forced him off the field.

This was literally the best possible thing for Lafayette's PR. Everyone was so pleasantly surprised by the fact that a French nobleman had taken a bullet for the American cause, and it would be key to Lafayette getting his own command (finally).

Lafayette was put in a small Philadelphia town called Bethlehem to recover from his wounds. He spent a lot of his time learning about the local religious sect, the Moravians. This is the first instance I can find of Lafayette's interest in anthropology. (btw they almost convinced him to join this religion and im like. not convinced that this isn't a cult. keep that in mind, lafayette almost joined a possible cult).

He also spent his time writing letters to French relatives and officials, advocating for the American cause. While he wasn't successful necessarily in the specific endeavors he was attempting, but this established himself as an intermediary between France and America! which is super cool!

Lafayette would rejoin Washington's troops on October 9, and would soon be named the commander of his own division on December 1, right before the Continental Army would go into winter encampment at Valley Forge *epic clifffhanger sound effect*

[livelaughlovelams]

PLEase HELPPPPP

Okay are there any hardcore Meade fans who can tell me who he was?! Ik he was an aide, Ik he was nice, Ik he was in the gang, but I can't find any info on him, or any of the other aides tbh- ANYONE WHO IS A HARDCORE FAN OF ANY AIDE PLS RANT TO ME ABOUT HIM!!!. Where do I look? Any media recommendations? Seriously yall I feel so left out 😭😭

[tieflingcxre]

seattle miku. shes on her way home from her morning shift at the bigfoot java drive thru

[a-loose-collection-of-ants]

I'm sure he'll be fine

[icarusbetide]

yes we can have historical accuracy or we can have the scene in george washington (1984) where washington shakes his soldiers' hands and embraces them- but gets to hamilton and ignores the offered hand to pull him into a tight hug with tears in his eyes.

so i don't know what you want from me.

btw the curly haired dude before hamilton is tench tilghman. my aides de camp.

[nebulaikas]

i call this one "hey assholes put the benches back"

[on-partiality]

Some Aide boys <3

( I start high school in 3 days btw so if anyone has any advice that'd be great, fyi: Australian high school starts at year 7. Americans do not give me advice for year 10)

[aidede-camp]

Soldier, Poet, King~

Already posted this on Insta! I don’t always post my art here but always will on Insta! If you want to see more, that’s the best place!

[screechingsandwichhologram]

hmmmm. i think my amrev ocs could use some friends. does anyone have any redcoats or bluecoat ocs that might want to be friends / acquaintances / somewhat rivals but not really with william or jean?

[bfpnola]

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[suriantei]

I’m curious as to what each of the aides favorite bands would be? I think I said earlier that Laurens would def be an AJR fan, but what of Meade? Or Tilghman? Or the rest? I think Harrison might listen to American Authors, while Reed just listens to fucking morse code. Don’t ask me what McHenry listens to, I have like 726382 ideas.

[pub-lius]

Hyper niche question for my autism warrior: What was the perception of aide-de-camps during the AmRev like? I assume it would be viewed as a softer position - though of course, the extent would vary depending who your CO was - but many did see action and a few were reassigned so they could fight

Hey y’all… how y’all doing… i know its been yet another period of many moons since ive posted or answered (i hope this information is still relevant btw), but ive had a lot going on with getting a job, finding colleges, my mommy issues, travel, etc. anyway, im back, and im here to tell you about my main men

It actually was not viewed as a softer position at all! The station of aide-de-camp was highly desirable for several reasons, which i will describe approximately right now

1) people had to compliment you a LOT to get in

Most of the results I got from my research on this ask were letters of recommendation for potential aides-de-camp. Letters of recommendation were high honors for any station, especially for that of a military capacity. According to my favorite source on the American Revolution (which you should know by now), George Washington’s Indispensable Men by Arthur S. Lefkowitz, it was practically impossible to get a job as an aide-de-camp if you did not have a widely positive reputation or a letter of recommendation from someone reputable (or both if you wanted to clerk for the Commander-in-Chief).

I found one letter of recommendation from j*hn ad*ms that i think serves as a very good example of the sort of statements that could land you a seat at a Continental officer’s writing desk:

“There is another Gentleman of liberal Education and real Genius, as well as great Activity, who I find is a Major in the Army; his Name is Jonathan Williams Austin. I mention him, sir, not for the Sake of recommending him to any particular Favour, as to give the General an opportunity of observing a youth of great abilities, and of reclaiming him from certain Follies, which have hitherto, in other Departments of Life obscurd him.”

-John Adams to George Washington, June 19-20, 1775, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Founders Online, Washington Papers)

Those are my italics btw. These compliments are carefully chosen to suit the honor culture that was so pervasive throughout the 18th century and first half of the 19th century. A liberal education at the time was very hard to come by, and would be of great importance in a clerical position. Great activity also helps, because you dont want some lazy ass writing to Congress under your name, or god forbid George Washington himself, you might get hung (not really). The mention of youth is also intentional, since young men have always been preyed upon by the military. I think it’s especially noteworthy the final phrase of “reclaiming him from certain Follies”, which indicates that he might have previously had a negative reputation- whether it was warranted or not, im not sure.

2) the pay was fucking fire

For this we’re going to be utilizing my super amazing math scores that im renown for throughout the math community (yall dont know about my math tumblr), and we’re going to be using Alexander Hamilton as our lab rat, as per usual.

Alexander Hamilton joined Washington’s staff in early 1777 where a regular aide-de-camp (not a military secretary) made $33 dollars a month, which averages to about $1.10 a day. Meanwhile, according to the University of Missouri, the highest paid laborer in Massachusetts in the same year made $0.50 a day, which is about $15 a month, others making as little as about $0.22 a day, so around $7 a month. If you’re looking for ratios, by the end of the war, a pound of raisins was around $0.30. So, the highest paid Massachusetts laborer could save up every paycheck from 1777 to 1782 and buy 324 pounds of raisins, and Alexander fucking Hamilton could waltz up next to him and buy 712.8 pounds of raisins and rub it in his sad, poor face. And he wouldn’t even share because he was a congressman by that time and congressmen HATE THE POOR.

Disclaimer: Hamilton’s numbers dont include the time he quit the office bc I didn’t feel like googling how long he was away for and also i dont care. And yeah he probably would share his raisins with the guy, Hamilton was pretty nice, but i dont think he’d buy 712.8 pounds of raisins in Massachusetts anyway. Or maybe he would, I dont fucking know, stop asking me questions

3) it gave you a lot of street cred

There are many instances of aides-de-camps rising to higher status after their service, but i dont give a fuck about those nerds going into politics and law and stuff.

Most people now only know about Washington’s aides (or if you’re really autistic you know Lafayette’s too), but at the time, being an ADC to any general would get you fairly well known in society. General Sullivan’s aides seem to have been pretty well known and admired, as they are frequently mentioned in John Adams’ correspondence with other congressmen, as well as that of Benjamin Franklin with French diplomats all the way across the Atlantic.

But I imagine you’re also wondering (or at least i am) about what the everyday enlisted man thought of the ADCs, and that answer doesn’t really change. Of course, the men sitting out in the rain and mud without food for the past week are going to be envious of the guys who get to sleep in a house, but their quarters weren’t the most comfortable either. Aides-de-camp were probably the most connected out of the disconnected officers, if that makes sense. They weren’t fraternizing with the enlisted, but they were seen by them more frequently than the generals, and they were the ones advocating for the needs of the enlisted men. Even if they didn’t have any battle experience whatsoever (which really was never the case, i cant think of an aide who WOULDNT have seen battle), they would still be respected by the men as hardworkers and the only people who might actually get them food and clothes.

Thank you for the ask! I really enjoyed researching it and my family had a great time joking about me hunched over my ipad reading through the national archives while we all watched jeopardy, misspelling like every other word because its hard to type on an ipad. Im going to try to be more active, so please feel free to send further questions! I forgot how cathartic research is for me so id be very happy to do more. I have one more ask in my inbox i’ll try to get done sometime in the next few days. Love yall!

[livelaughlovelams]

Washington: you see, these are my oldest children, THE MAJOR GENERALS!!! I love em.

Major generals: hiii!!!

Washington: these are the middle children, the AIDES-DE-CAMP!!! YAY!!! They slay, I guess.

Aides: HENLOOOO

Washington: and those…uh…

*Chanting in the distance*

Washington: *sigh* that's the navy.

JPJ: TELL ME WHYYYYY

Navy himbos: AINTTTT NOTHIN BUT A HEARTACHEEEE

JPJ: SWEEEET CAROLINE

Navy Himbos: BA BA BA

Washington: *whispers* Look, I only know them during work hours and major battles.

[puckpocketed]

maybe good vibes can't fix everything but they're still good vibes

dubie dubie dubie dooooooo

:)

LINK!!!!!!!! this is so cute thank uuu... augh.... vibes team..... AND he got an assist.... maybe this team really could fix him!

a friend sent me this article and um!!! shots are being fired <3 maybe all he needed was a team that would love him for who he is....!!!!!

take my FIN we are nursing him back to health . wounded creature in the woods.... his tramp stamp tattoos and curly girl moustache and undiagnosed anxiety have bewitched me and they will bewitch everyone on the capitals too <3

[a-loose-collection-of-ants]

I'm finally free from exams so uhhhhhhhhhhhh here's another sketch dump

We have fun here