Lafayette’s division was an elite corps of about 2,000 light infantry, made up of carefully selected companies from the New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania lines. He clothed them in handsome uniforms he had bought in France, along with swords, cockades, and epaulets for officers, and distinctive patches and red and black plumes for every soldier. Steuben-style drills each day transformed them into the snappiest, most distinctive unit in the northern army, renowned for their unmatched esprit de corps. Divided into two companies, under Generals Enoch Poor and Edward Hand, the Light Division had four cannon and 100 riflemen and included among its officers Lafayette’s former aide Colonel Jean-Joseph Gimat and a young Virginia major, Henry Lee, who commanded the 300-man Light Horse Corps. They carried their own pennants that Lafayette had fabricated in France, bearing the Latin motto Ultimo Ratio - “the final reckoning.” Although the motto was new to Americans, Louis XIV had embossed all his cannons with the words Ultimo Ration Regum, “the king’s final reckoning,” to inspire fear in the enemies of France. Lafayette bought himself an appropriate horse “of a perfect whiteness and the greatest beauty” for a knight to lead and inspire his men in battle. He was breathtaking atop his horse, leading his proud, handsomely equipped division - truly, the legendary knight of old he had always imagined himself. “They were the pride of his heart,” said Dr. James Thacher, “and he was the idol of their regard.
Harlow Giles Unger, Lafayette, (2002< p.120-121
