La Fayette's guard shot General Wayne
War was a dangerous business and the Marquis de La Fayette was quite aware of it. Not only had he lost many family members, his own father included, to war, he also was wounded in the calf during his very first taste of war during the Battle of Brandywine. Lucky for La Fayette he had some very eager sentry guards at times – guards who were not only fending off potential enemies but also fellow continental Generals – allow me to elaborate.
La Fayette was one of several generals taking command during the Virginia Campaign, one of the last great stages of the Revolutionary War that eventually lead to the Siege of Yorktown and cumulated in the Surrender of General Cornwallis after the Battle of Yorktown. One of his fellow generals was General Anthony Wayne, often referred to as “Mad Anthony Wayne”. On September 2, 1781 he planned on meeting with La Fayette in the afternoon. But when Wayne arrived at La Fayette’s camp he was mistaken for an enemy and shot by one of the guards. Here is what Wayne wrote in his diary concerning this accident:
“On the 2d inst. the French troops landed near this place. After I had pointed out the most proper position for an encampment, I received an express from the Marquis Lafayette, to meet him on business of importance that evening about ten miles distant. I proceeded, accordingly, attended by two gentlemen and a servant. When we in the vicinity of the camp, about ten o'clock at night, we were challenged by a sentry, and we made the usual answer, but the poor fellow being panic-struck, mistook us for the enemy and shot me in the center of the left thigh, then fled and alarmed the camp. Fortunately the ball only grazed the bone, and lodged on the side opposite to which it had entered.“
Lieutenant Feltman (apparently one of the two gentlemen who accompanied Wayne) wrote in his journal:
“This evening Gen. Wayne was unfortunately wounded in thigh with a buck shot, by one of the Marquis's sentinels, which renders him unfit for duty.”
Lieutenant Ebenezer Wild of Colonel Vose's Light Infantry (under the command of the Marquis de La Fayette) also noted the event in his journal, although in a very short manner:
“General Wayne was wounded by one of our sentinels in the evening.”
Very unfortunate indeed. The wound was luckily not too serious but nevertheless made it necessary for Wayne to be confined to his room for several days. By September 12 he was able to ride again, but the wound continued to pester him for a long time after that.
General Richard Butler noted on his diary on September 2, that:
“(...) Gen. Wayne, who went by appointment to meet the Marquis de Lafayette, and was very unfortunately shot in thigh by a sentry just as he arrived there: the wound is not dangerous, but is very mortifying to this good officer and the troops he commands, who love him, and wish his presence on the field on all occasions.”
He further wrote on September 14, that:
“The Marquis Lafayette still ill of the ague. Yesterday the de St. Simon, and a number of officers, paid a visit to our line, and the Baron Steuben and our good friend Gen. Wayne, whose wound and gout still continue ill.”
General Wayne himself wrote to La Fayette on September 12 the following lines:
“My Dear Marquis,
I have not been pleased with Madam Fortune for some time, & she has added to that Displeasure in attacking you at this Crisis with a Caitiff fever. Try my Dear Marquis, to shake it off, & I will endeavour to get clear of my Complaint the soonest possible.”
Idzerda Stanley J. et al., editors, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776–1790, Volume 4, April 1, 1781–December 23, 1781, Cornell University Press, 1981, p. 399.
The poor man, being shot in the leg and suffering from gout - what a dreadful combination. To everybody wondering what was wrong with La Fayette, he was ill with a fever and ague, most likely a bout of malaria. Malaria was one of the great obstacles that the armies in the south had to face. Regardless of that, La Fayette did reasonable well; he was nowhere near as ill as he had been in Fishkill in late 1778.
There is one last letter I want to showcase, it was written by General Wayne on November 4 and addressed to General Washington.
“Sir,
The Campaign in this Quarter being gloriously terminated under your Excellency’s auspices—I have to request the Indulgence of a short respite from the field. If that can not be granted, I must beg permission to advance at leasure (Independent of Command) until I join Genl Greene. This is a matter in which I am much Interested not only on acct of my Wound but my feelings your Compliance will therefore greatly Oblige your Excellency’s Most Obt & very Hume Sert.”
“To George Washington from Anthony Wayne, 4 November 1781,” Founders Online, National Archives, [This is an Early Access document from The Papers of George Washington. It is not an authoritative final version.] (03/08/2023)
At the end of the story, I do not even know with whom I feel more sympathy. With General Wayne for being shot or with the poor soul who shot him and was probably mortified by it, not to mention very, very sorry.
